
\\ ^- ^ 



''Hi 




■• '^ 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

siieif;.Cs£S 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



AMERICA OR ROME, 



W/ilG/i? 



/ BY 

JOHN T. CHRISTIAN, A.M.,D.D., 

Pastor East Baptist Church, Louisville, Ky.; Author of ^'■Immersion, The 
Act of Christian Baptism"; ^^ Close Communion, or Baptism Pre- 
requisite to the LorfVs Supper''^; "Four Theories of 
Church GovernmenV^ ; '■^ Heathen and Infidel 
Testimony to Jesus Christ," etc. 




LOUISVILLE, KY.: 

BAPTIST BOOK OONCEKN, 

189s. 



The Library 1 
OF Congress 

WASHINGTON 



<3 



^^s« 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1895, by 

J. T.CHRISTIAN, 
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 



PREFACE. 



The author believes that Roman Catholicism is 
xm-Americaiij and its polity and spirit are antag- 
onistic to our free institutions. It has made a mur- 
derous assault upon our public schools, degraded 
our morals, seeks to destroy our liberties — both 
secular and religious — to overthrow the free- 
dom of the press, and has made war upon the 
universal reading of the Bible. The Roman 
Church has gone further and declared that our 
marriage vows are "filthy concubinage." To 
these traitorous sentiments I have entered a most 
solemn protest. In regard to the theological 
opinions of Rome, only so far as they touch upon 
our national life, I have not expressed an opinion. 
But, as an American, and one who loves the Stars 
and Stripes, I enter a plea for the preservation of 
our free institutions. 

I have striven to be judicial in my sentiments, 
conservative in language, accurate in statements, 
and, above all, charitable in thinking. If this 
book makes us love our land with more ardor 
and affection, I shall be grateful to the Giver 
of all good. 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER I. . PAGE. 

Was Peter a Pope? 7 

CHAPTER II. 
Rome and Morals 26 

CHAPTER III. 

Rome and Civil Liberty 60 

CHAPTER IV. 

Rome and Religious Liberty . 105 

CHAPTER V. 

Rome and Marriage 140 

CHAPTER VI. 

Rome and the Bible 176 

CHAPTER VII. 

Rome and the Public Schools and General Learning. .213 

CHAPTER VIII 

Rome and the Press 242 

CHAPTER IX. 

Rome and Secret Societies 271 



AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 



CHArTER I. 

WAS PETER A POPE? 

2 Fet. 1:1: "Simon Feter, a servant of Jesus 

Christ." 

There has been in the world too much of the 
spirit of compromise. Some one has said that 
England has so long fed upon the pap of com- 
promise that she was not capable of a muscular 
resolution. Such has been the condition in dis- 
cussing this subject. The influence of Rome has 
been so overpowering that many men have been 
awed into silence, many have seen the gigantic 
evils of this ecclesiastical system, but they have 
tamely acquiesced either because they were arrant 
cowards, or more probably, because they did not 
care to injure their prospects in life. Others have 
seen the difficulty and have tried to overcome it 
by, what they are pleased to call, the preaching of 
the gospel. But, unfortunately, their idea of 
preaching the gospel is talk about some kind of 
etherial something which I frankly confess I 
never understood, and I have always had sus- 



8 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

picions whether they understood it themselves. 
What we need, it seems to me, is some vigorous 
talk, and some vigorous action back of the talk. 

You may ask why I discuss this subject? If it 
were merely a matter of faith of the Roman 
Catholic Church, I would pass it without a word. 
I hold in the broadest sense of the term that a 
man has a right to worship God according to the 
dictates of his own conscience. Human govern- 
ment should have nothing to do with how we 
worship God. The pope proposes to take from 
me this blessed privilege. He not only proposes 
to dictate the faith to his own followers, but the 
faith of the world as well. He claims to be the 
absolute judge of right and wrong. "If the 
pope," says Cardinal Bellarmine, "should err by 
enjoining vices or forbidding virtues, the Church 
would be obliged to believe vices to be good and 
virtues bad, unless it would sin against con- 
science." 

The position of Rome is aggressive. Under 
the smooth words of good will it hides an aggres- 
sive policy. Under the purr of the apparently 
sleeping cat we see obtruded the dangerous paw. 
Like the executioner who bowed before Charles 
I., kissed his hand and begged pardon for under- 
taking the unpleasant business in which he was 
engaged, but nevertheless beheaded him just the 



WAS PETER A POPE? 9 

same. So Rome fawns and bows, but all the 
time is fastening lier grasp more firmly upon the 
vitals of our nation. 

This position of Rome threatens our homes, our 
government, and our religion. The man who 
steadfastly holds the principles of Rome is a 
traitor to our country. The Roman Catholic 
power is fast becoming an overwhelming evil. It 
claims the obedience of the entire man. With 
such claims as these the very existence of our 
faith is in peril. I, therefore, discuss a question 
which is the foundation of this monstrous 
claim. If 

PETER WAS NOT A POPE, 

SO far as the authority of the Scriptures extend, 
the pope is without authority, and we are under 
no obligation to obey him. 

Do the Scriptures teach that Peter was a pope? 
This claim is based upon only one passage of 
Scripture. That would be enough if it clearly 
taught that Peter was a pope. That passage 
reads: ''He saith unto them, But whom say ye 
that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said. 
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 
And Jesus answered and said unto him. Blessed 
art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath 
aiot revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is 



10 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thour 
art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my 
church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
against it." But the passage does not say that 
the church was founded upon Peter. It says that 
the church was founded upon Christ. Christ was 
the rock and Peter was one of the stones of the 
foundation. The church was never founded upon 
any man. It rests upon a more sure foundation 
than that. Peter was the chief apostle to the 
Jews, but as much authority was conferred upon 
the rest of the apostles as upon him. That this: 
passage does not teach that Peter was a pope is 
clear from the whole tenor of Scripture. Take 
the following considerations: 

1. Matthew did not understand that there was 
to be any final appeal to be made to Peter. The 
ultimate authority, according to Matthew, was 
lodged in the local church or congregation. This 
is clearly taught by him in chapter 18, verses 15 
to IT. Thus: "Moreover if thy brother shall 
trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault 
between thee and him alone: if he shall hear 
thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he 
will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two 
more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses 
every word may be established. And if he shall- 
neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but 



WAS PETER A POPE? 11 

if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto 
thee as a heathen man and a publican." 

It is evident that Matthew was not a Roman 
Catholic. The appeal was not to the pope, but 
to the local church. 

2. All scholars agree that Mark was a per- 
sonal friend to Peter, and wrote the gospel as it 
was preached bj Peter. But while he quotes this 
incident he makes no allusion to "the rock." 
He says: "But whom say ye that- 1 am? And 
Peter answereth and saith unto him, Thou art the 
Christ." (Mark 8:29). 

Peter was the special defender of Mark, and 
this record is unaccountable if Peter was a pope. 

3. Paul never thought that Peter was the rock. 
He constantly spoke of the rock, but it always 
referred to Christ. He made all saints a part of 
the building, but Christ was the chief corner 
stone. He says: "And are built upon the 
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus 
Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In 
whom all the building fitly framed together 
groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord: In 
whom ye also are builded together for a habita- 
tion of God through the Spirit." (Eph. 2:20-22). 

If Peter was a pope Paul was a heretic. 

4. John did not think Peter was a pope. He 
saw twelve foundation stones and they all occu- 



12 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

pied equal positions of power. He says also, 
"And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, 
and in them the names of the twelve apostles of 
the Lamb." (Rev. 21:14). 

5. Peter himself did not believe that he was 
a pope. No pope ever wrote sentences like 
these: "The elders which are among you I 
exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of 
the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of 
the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock 
of God which is among you, taking the oversight 
thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for 
fllthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being 
lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples 
to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd shall 
appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that 
fadeth not away." 

The New Testament writers knew nothing of, 
and Peter made no claim to, papal power. But 
in Matthew, 16th chapter, there is one other 
statement which I shall notice. It reads: "And 
I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of 
heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth 
shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou 
shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 
Then charged he his disciples that they should 
tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ." (vs. 
19 and 20). 



WAS PETER A POPE? la 

Does this give absolute power to Peter? Not 
so. Yon will notice that he spoke this to his 
disciples, all of them, and told them to tell it 
to no man. In the 18th chapter, verses IT to 
19, he declares that this power of binding and 
loosing belongs to the local church and that if 
"two of you shall agree on earth as touching 
anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for 
them of my Father which is in heaven." And 
in John 20:22, this power was given to the 
twelve apostles. All that Christ did in this cele- 
brated chapter was to address Peter as a spokes- 
man, and whatever power He gave was given to 
the twelve and not to Peter only. 

There are 

SOME OTHER THINGS 

in the Scripture which would indicate that Peter 
was not a pope. I will point out some of them: 

1. He was not infallible. He did err. The 
pope claims infallibility. Peter made no such 
claim. The example of Peter has been a stand- 
ing warning against the sin of self-confidence 
and presumption. The popes appear to be the 
successors of Peter only in his errors and follies. 

2. Peter was a married man. We read in 
Matthew 8:14, that his wife's mother was sick 
of a fever. Of course he had a wife if he had a 



14 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

mother-in-law. He carried his wife on mission- 
ary journeys many years after the death of Christ. 
1 Cor. 9:5: ''Have we not power to lead about 
a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as 
the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?" 

The very traditions upon which Catholics assert 
that Peter was in Rome is the one that also asserts 
that he had children and one very distinguished 
daughter. 

3. There is a striking contrast in Acts 3:6 
between Peter and the popes. There Peter says, 
"Silver and gold have I none." That could 
hardly be said of any pope. For hard, grasping 
men commend me to the popes. 

4. In the so-called Council of Jerusalem, Acts 
15:1-11, Peter appears only as one of the 
speakers and debaters. James presided. Accord- 
ing to the Roman Catholic claim the whole ques- 
tion of circumcision ought to have been referred 
to Peter and his decision would be final. The 
'early Christians did not think that way. 

5. Peter was openly rebuked by Paul. Paul 
said of him: "But when Peter was come to 
Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he 
•was to be blamed. For before that certain came 
from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but 
when they were come, he withdrew and separated 
Jiimself, fearing them which were of the circum- 



WAS PETER A POPE? 15 

<cisioii. And the other Jews dissembled likewise 
with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was car- 
ried away with their dissimulation. But when I 
saw that they walked not uprightly according to 
the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before 
them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the 
manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, 
why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do 
the Jews?" (Gal. 2:11-14:). This is perfectly 
plain, but if the Catholic assumption is true it is 
Tinexplainable. 

6. From the first pope to the present pontiff, 
Leo XIII., the pope has never failed to claim 
authority over all bishops and churches. Peter 
never did this. Peter was humble in his claims. 
The most he ever said of himself was that he was 
a servant, an apostle, a fellow-elder, and declaimed 
against those who would lord it over God's herit- 
age. 

The Scriptures certainly know nothing of the 
popish power of Peter. I could admit that all of 
this power was given to Peter and the Romanists 
would be as far away from Peter being a pope as 
ever. It is necessary for them to prove 

THAT PETEK WAS A POPE IN ROME. 

Their position demands that he should have exer- 
cised his papal powers in Rome. According to 



16 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

their view Home is the center of the earth. As^ 
the emperor in old Roman times claimed to be 
the center of all political power, so the pope 
claims to-day to regulate all matters of politics 
and religion. To further this end Catholics claim 
that Peter ruled in Rome as pope twenty-five 
years. This claim is wholly based on tradition. 
The Scriptures absolutely know nothing of any 
residence of Feter in Rome. The Acts of the 
Apostles which closes with the year 63, make sno 
mention of Peter ever having been in Rome. 
Paul doubtless would not have wrJlten his letter 
to the Romans if Peter had been in that city. He 
said that he never built on another man's founda- 
tion. During the long residence of Paul in Rome 
he would have made some reference to Peter 
had he been there. The silence of Paul is con- 
clusive that Peter was not a pope. 

The Catholics can not even rely on the tradition 
that Peter was in Rome. It is confused and con- 
tradictory. I present their claims in the words of a 
well-known historian. To read them is to reject 
them. He says: "The tradition of a twenty- 
five years' episcopate in Rome (preceded by a 
seven years' episcopate in Antioch) can not be 
traced beyond the fourth century (Jerome), and 
arose from chronological miscalculations in con- 
nection with the questionable statement of Justin 



WAS PETER A POPE? 17 

Martyr concerning the arrival of Simon Magus in 
Rome under the reign of Claudius, (4:1-54). The 
'Catalogus Liberianus, ' the oldest list of the popes 
(supposed to have been written before 366), ex- 
tends the pontificate of Peter to twenty-five 
years, one month, nine days, and put his death 
on June 29, 65 (during the consulate of Nerva 
and Yestinus), which would date his arrival in 
Rome to A. D. 40. Among Roman Catholic 
historians there is no agreement as to the year of 
Peter's martyrdom. Baronius puts it in 69; Pagi 
and Riban Butler in 65; Gams and Alzog and 
Mohler indefinitely between 66 and 68. In all 
these cases it must be assumed that the Neronian 
persecution was continued or renewed after 64, of 
which we have no historical evidence. It must 
also be assumed that Peter was conspicuously 
absent from his flock during most of the time, to 
superintend the churches in Asia Minor and in 
Syria, to preside at the Council at Jerusalem, to- 
meet with Paul in Antioch, to travel about with, 
his wife, and that he made very little impression 
there till 58, and even till 63, when Paul, writing 
to and from Rome, still entirely ignores him. 
Thus a chronological error is made to overrule 
stubborn facts. The famous saying that no pope 
'shall see the (twenty-five) years of Peter, ' which. 
had hitherto almost the force of law, has been 



18 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

falsified by the thirty-two years' reign of the first 
infallible pope, Pius IX., who ruled from 1846 
to 1878." 

The absurdity and folly of building upon such 
a foundation is manifest to all. Yet we are bound 
to believe all of this if the pope has the authority 
he claims. I come now to the last proposition 
that Rome must prove: 

THE ACTUAL TKANSFEK OF THE AUTHORITY OF PETER 
TO HIS SUCCESSOR IN ROME. 

This is vital. Bellarmine says: "It is not im- 
probable that our Lord gave an express command 
that Peter should so fix his seat at Rome that the 
bishop of Rome should absolutely succeed him." 
I have proved that Peter was not a pope, and that 
there is no evidence that he was ever in Rome. 
But, admitting for argument's sake both of these 
propositions, there is not a trace of proof in the 
Scriptures, or out of them, as to that matter, 
which goes to show that Peter handed over his 
power to a successor. He did not delegate his 
power as an apostle to another. The ever ready 
tradition of Rome does not sustain this propo- 
sition so vital to this claim of succession. No 
man can trace the succession of bishops of the 
church of Rome. Catholic accounts are contra- 
dictory. This whole claim is founded in fraud. 



WAS PETER A POPE? 19 

Du Pin, the Catholic historian, says: ''The same 
motives carried the Catholics so far as to invent 
false histories, false miracles, and false lives of 
saints, to keep up the piety of the faithful." 
And this whole claim of succession is a pious 
fraud. 

Even if I should grant that Peter had preroga- 
tives and delegated them to a successor there is 
no proof that they have been retained by the 
popes. Who knows but that this claim of suc- 
cession has been broken into a thousand pieces? 
Who knows but that Peter handed the claim over 
to some other churches? There was not an early 
pastor in Rome who amounted to anything, and 
left a great impression on the Christian world. 
Of the thirty-six greatest leaders of the Christian 
churches in the first four centuries only four of 
them lived in Pome, and they were not the most 
conspicuous nor successful. Cardinal Newman 
has said: "The See of Rome possessed no great 
mind in the whole period of persecution. The 
great luminary in the Western world is St. Augus- 
tine; he, no infallible teacher, has formed the in- 
tellect of Europe." (Apologia, p. 407). Dean 
Stanley remarks: "There have been occupants 
of the Sees of Constantinople, Alexandria and 
Canterbury who have produced more effect on 
the mind of Christendom by their utterances than 



20 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

any of the popes. " (Christian Institutions, p. 241). 

The oldest links in the chain of Roman bishops 
is veiled in inpenetrable darkness. Where there 
ought to be clearness, there is confusion. Tertul- 
lian and most of the Latins make Clement the 
first successor of Peter; but Irenseus, Eusebius 
and other Greeks, also Jerome and the Roman 
Catalogue, give him the third place, and put 
Linus and Anacletus between him and Peter. In 
some lists Cletus is substituted for Anacletus, in 
others the two are distinguished. Furthermore, 
the earliest fathers do not reckon Peter among 
the bishops of Pome at all. Yet it is on this 
kind of confusion that Pome says I must rest my 
salvation. 

But what is worse, if possible, the Roman pas- 
tors did not set up a papal claim. So late as six 
hundred years after Christ no such a claim was 
recognized. Gregory, A. D. 590, a man of great 
ability, utterly repudiated the idea that he was a 
universal bishop. In answer to a letter which he 
had received from Eulogius of Alexandria, who 
had called Gregory "a universal bishop, " Gregory 
replied: "I have said that neither to me nor to 
any one else ought you to write anything of the 
kind. And lo! in the preface of your letter you 
apply to me, who prohibited it, the proud title of 
'universal pope ;' which thing I beg your most sweet 



WAS PETER A POPE? 21 

holiness to do no more, because what is given to 
others beyond what reason requires is subtracted 
from you. I do not esteem that an honor by 
which 1 know that my brethren lose their honor. 
I am then truly honored when all and each are 
allowed the honor that is due to them. For if 
your holiness calls me universal pope, you deny 
yourself to be that which you call universal (that 
is, your own self to be no pope). But no more 
of this; away with words which inflate pride and 
wound charity." He even objects to the expres- 
sion: "as thou hast commanded," which occurred 
in his correspondent's letter. "Which word 
'commanded' I pray you to let me hear no more; 
for I know what I am and what you are; in posi- 
tion you are my brethren, in manners you are my 
fathers. I did not, therefore, command, but de- 
sired only to indicate what seemed to be inex- 
pedient." Gregory certainly did not talk like an 
infallible pope. 

VILE POPES. 

Many of the popes have been among the vilest 
and most notorious of sinners. If they were ever 
the successors of Peter, their sins have long since 
vitiated that claim. 

I shall refer, in this connection, to only a few of 
the revolting crimes which they have committed. 



22 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

; And what is worse, if possible, three bold and 
energetic wornen of the highest rank, and lowest 
character, Theodora, the elder (the wife or widow 
of a Roman Senator), and her two daughters, 
Marozia and Theodora, filled the chair of St. 
Peter with their paramours and bastards. These 
Roman Amazons combined with the fatal charms 
of personal beauty and wealth, a rare capacity 
for intrigue, and a burning lust for power and 
pleasure. They had the diabolical ambition to 
surpass their sex as much in boldness and bad- 
ness as some of the early Christian women did in 
saintliness and virtue. They turned the church 
of St. Peter into a den of robbers, and the resi- 
dence of his successors into a harem. And they 
gloried in their shame. 

Take, for example, the character of the pope, 
John XII. He was charged by a Roman Synod, 
no one contradicting, with almost every crime of 
which depraved human nature is capable, and de- 
posed as a monster of iniquity. Among the 
charges of the Synod against him were: that he 
appeared constantly armed with a sword, lance, 
helmet and breast-plate; that he neglected matins 
and vespers; that he never signed himself with 
the sign of the cross; that he was fond of hunt- 
ing; that he made a boy of ten years a bishop, 
and ordained a bishop or deacon in a stable; that 



WAS PETER A POPE? 23 

he had mutilated a priest; that he had set houses 
on fire, like Nero; that he had comraitted homi- 
cide and adultery; had violated virgins and widows, 
high and low; lived with his father's mistress; 
converted the pontificial palace into a brothel; 
drank to the health of the devil, and invoked at 
the gaming table the help of Jupiter and Yenus 
and other heathen demons. The emperor Otho 
would not believe these enormities until they were 
proved, but the bishops replied that they were 
matters of public notoriety, requiring no proof. 
Before the Synod had convened John XII. had 
made his escape from Rome, carrying with him 
the portable part of the treasury of St. Feter. 
But after the departure of the emperor he was re- 
admitted to the city, restored for a short time, 
and killed in the act of adultery by the enraged 
husband of his paramour or by the devil." 
(Migne, vol. 36, pp. 898-910). 

Benedict YIII. secured his election by open 
bribery. He was succeeded by John XIX., a 
layman, who passed through all of the clerical 
degrees in one day. After his death, in 1033, 
his nephew, Theophylact, a boy of only ten or 
twelve years of age, ascended the papal throne 
under the name of Benedict XI. His election 
was a money bargain. This boy-pope fully 
equaled and even surpassed John XII. in preco- 



24 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

cious wickedness. He combined the childishness 
of Caligula and the viciousness of Heliogabalus. 
He grew worse as he advanced in years. He 
ruled like a captain of banditti, committed mur- 
ders and adulteries in open daylight, robbed pil- 
grims on the graves of martyrs, and turned Home 
into a den of thieves. These crimes went un- 
punished, for who could judge a pope? And his 
brother Gregory, was Partrician of the city. At 
one time, it is reported, he had the crazy notion 
of marrying his cousin and enthroning a woman 
in the chair of St. Peter; but the father of the in- 
tended bride refused unless he abdicated the 
papacy. Desiderius, who himself afterwards be- 
came pope, shrinks from describing the detestable 
life of this Benedict, who, he says, followed in 
the footsteps of Simon Magus rather than of 
Simon Peter, and proceeded in a career of rapine, 
murder, and every species of felony until even 
the people of Rome became weary of his iniquities 
and expelled him from the city. Sylvester III. 
was elected anti-pope, but Benedict soon resumed 
the papacy with all of his vices, and then sold it 
for one or two thousand pounds of silver to an 
archpresbyter, John Gratian, of the same house, 
after he had emptied the treasury of every article 
of value, and, ruing the bargain, he claimed the dig- 
nity again, till he was finally expelled from Rome. 



WAS PETER A POPE? 25 

It is even charged that one of the popes was a 
^oman. 1 could write a book on such misdeeds 
of infamy. I do not believe for one moment 
that my salvation rests on the claim of a succes- 
sion that must come through such monsters of 
iniquity. 

I, therefore, challenge any man to make good 
the three following propositions: 

1st. That Peter was a pope. 

2nd. That he was a pope in Rome. 

3rd. That he handed over his authority to a 
successor. 

I invite you, brothers and fathers, not to the 
far away decrees of a political pope who rules in 
hate and with a rod of iron. I ask you not to 
Teceive traditions and old wives' fables. But I 
ask you to come reverently and earnestly to the 
Christ. Receive as a brother and a friend Him 
that died for our sins and arose again for our jus- 
tification. Lovingly he will lead you along the 
pathway of life. Thus can we look into the clear 
heavens and say: "Our Father," and He will 
i^hisper in our hearts: "My son." 



26 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 



CHAFTER II. 

THE ATTITUDE OP ROME TOWARD MORALS. 

AS AN American citizen, I object to the su- 
premacy of Roman Catholic ideas in thi& 
country, because they lead to corruption of morals. 
From a civil, as well as from a religious stand- 
point, we can not afford for the morals of the 
nation to be undermined, and we think that is- 
what Romanism does. 

Cardinal Gibbons says: "Holiness is a mark 
of the true church." (Faith of Our Fathers, p. 
33). But, instead of being holy for long cen- 
turies, the Roman Catholic Church has been a 
den of infamy. This claim of holiness will not 
hold good from two considerations: 

1. The membership of the Catholic church is; 
not holy. That there are some good people 
among Catholics I admit, but that the Roman 
Catholic church receives and retains the vilest 
sinners is easily proved. Cardinal Gibbons him- 
self says: "The Church, walking in the foot- 
steps of her divine Spouse, never repudiates sin- 
ners nor cuts them off from her fold, no matter 
how grievous or notorious may be their moral de- 



ROME AND MORALS. 27 

linquencies, not because she connives at their 
sin, but because she wishes to reclaim them. She 
bids them never to despair, and tries, at least, to 
weaken their passions, if she can not altogether 
reform their lives." (Faith of our Fathers, p. 
43). Cardinal Bellarmine testifies: "Wicked 
men, infidels and reprobates remaining in the 
public profession of the Komish Church are true 
members of the Body of Christ." (De EccL, lib. 
3, c. 7). 

You may go where you will and the Roman 
Church is corrupt. The Rev. W. B. Bagby, after 
thirteen years of observation, gives his opin- 
ion of Romanism in Brazil in these words: 
"Thirteen years ago I entered Brazil as the 
first missionary sent by the Board to South 
America. Our voyage was by barque, which 
took some forty-five days to make the trip. After 
one year of labor and prayer, the first convert 
was baptized. To-day we have five churches. 
Romanism should be judged by its fruit. It has 
held sway in Brazil for 300 years unmolested;, 
yet to-day there is all the superstition, sensuality 
and idolatry there that is to be found in the heart 
of Africa. After 300 years of Romanism, 85 per 
cent, of the people can not read or write. Held 
down by a licentious and depraved priesthood, 
the people are deprived of the gospel, and a mis- 



28 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

erable form of idolatry is substituted for it. The 
only difference between Romanism in Brazil and 
Homanism in the United States is that there they 
are open and above board with their iniquity, 
while here they confine it largely to the monas- 
teries and nunneries. I have gone to funerals 
and have heard many expressions of sympathy 
from the lips of the Brazilians, but 1 have yet to 
bear one word about reunion with loved ones in 
beaven or one word in regard to the resurrection 
of the dead. I have gone through the cemetery 
at Kio and read inscriptions on hundreds of 
tombstones, but not a line of hope in any epitaph 
bave I ever seen. There is a little bird which 
may be heard in Brazilian forests late in the night, 
whose song is a sad and mournful strain. The 
priests taught the people that the voice of this 
songster was the wail of some lost soul which had 
come back to earth, and from that false teaching 
the bird received the name of the 'Lost Soul.' " 
The Rev. H. L. Hastings, of Boston, in one of 
his leaflets, gives these remarkable figures: "In 
five counties in the North of Ireland, where 
the Bible is largely read, it requires only eleven 
or twelve policemen to keep order among each 
ten thousand people; while in five other counties 
in Ireland, where they have more parochial 
schools and less Bible, it requires from forty-one 



ROME AND MORALS. 2» 

to forty-six policemen to keep order among each 
ten thousand people. 

•'A late chaplain of the State prison at Con- 
cord, Mass., stated that of some 560 convicts 
there, 400 were Catholics, chiefly Irish — more 
than five times their due proportion according to 
the population of the State. Of the 230 convicts 
in the women's prison at Sherbourn, seven-tenths 
are said to be Roman Catholics. At Deer Island, 
75 per cent, of the inmates are Catholics. At 
Suffolk county jail, of the 2,750 commitments of 
• the year 1886, considerable more than half were 
Catholics, even after the Romish oflicials of Bos- 
ton had put in what ministers they could catch 
preaching the gospel outdoors to the poor. At 
the Cambridge House of Correction 90 per cent. 
of the inmates are foreigners, and nearly all 
Roman Catholics. And essentially such is the 
story in all the penal and pauper institutions of 
Massachusetts. 

"The thirty-fourth report of the trustees of the 
Tewksbury State Almshouse, for 1886, says that 
the total number admitted during the year was 
2,362, of which 1,651 were males, 711 females; 
of these 945 were born in Ireland, 348 in Massa- 
chusetts, 245 in the British Provinces, 211 in 
England, 82 in New York, the remainder being 
from die different States; so that out of 2,362 



.30 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

■State paupers in Massachusetts, little Ireland con- 
tributes 94:5, or over 40 per cent, of the whole; 
nearly three times as many as the whole State of 
Massachusetts, and more than three times as 
many as all England. These are the kind of 
people who have grown up under the parochial 
school system in Ireland, and under the no-Bible 
system which priests and infidels have united to 
introduce in America." 

The Universe^ a Roman Catholic paper, under 
the heading, "Catholic Morality in Liverpool," 
says: "The vice and immorality existing among 
the (Roman) Catholic body in Liverpool are fear- 
ful. The sooner we admit that fact the better, and 
deny it we can not, in the face of statistics com- 
piled by the Rev. Father Nugent. This plain 
statement of figures, set down in black and white, 
reveals a horrible, a hideous blot on the (Roman) 
Catholic character in the great northern seaport. 
Their substance is this — that in Liverpool, the 
strongest phalanx in the Devil's Army is recruited 
from the ranks of (Roman) Catholicism. Of the 
three great divisions in that gloomy host — thiev- 
ing, harlotry and intemperance — the majority are 
members of our community. . . . And, 
worse still, the heavy proportion of this wicked- 
ness is assignable to our own countrymen, the 
Irish Catholics. " 



ROME AND MORALS. 31 

Right in line with the above the Roman Cath- 
olic, Lord Edward Howard, wrote to the WeeMy 
Megister^ of London, Eng. , a letter which was 
copied into the Universe^ and in which he says: 
''In nine months only, there were committed to 
Liverpool gaol 4,277 Roman Catholic prisoners, 
making 729 more Roman Catholic committals 
than Protestant, as shown by an excess, of 
Roman Catholics above Protestants of 54:-|- per 
cent, among males, and 63 per cent, among 
females. Of fallen women committed in the 
same period, there were 605 Protestant and 921 
Roman Catholic." Lord Edward Howard con- 
tinues: "Unhappily, of these 4,227 only 12 can 
read and write well; 1,244 read and write im- 
perfectly; 864 read only; 2,107 neither read nor 
write. These poor people were thus born: In 
Ireland, 2,537; Liverpool, 1,276; England, Scot- 
land and Wales, 350; foreigners, 64. Such, and 
so great is the evil. What is the remedy? This 
is the problem — it passes my understanding." 

Father M. F. Foley, of DeLand, Fla., recently 
wrote to the Catholic Mirror^ as follows: "Go 
into our prisons, our reformatories, our alms- 
houses; go into our great asylums, where num- 
bers of children are being reared in what must 
necessarily be hot-house atmosphere, to face the 
storms of life. Go into the crowded tenements 



32 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

of our cities, into their lowest dens and dives; see 
the misery, squalor, reigning there; see the men 
and women, low and besotted; see the little ones 
dying as flies in the fetid air, or, worse, living to 
poison the nation's moral atmosphere; in a word, 
see degradation in its most repulsive form. In 
these abodes of crime, of poverty, of misery, you 
will find thousands of Catholics. Ask what has 
brought to prison and almshouse, to reformatory 
and orphanage, to dive and brothel, so many chil- 
dren of the Church. Trumpet-toned comes back 
the answer: 'Drink, drink.' " 

The Pastoral Letter of the Council of Balti- 
more, 1860, admitted: "It is a melancholy fact, 
and a very humiliating avowal for us to make, 
that a very large proportion of the idle and vicious 
youths of our principal cities are the children of 
Catholic parents. " 

I would also call attention to the following 
facts: "While in Roman Catholic Ireland there 
were nineteen murderers to the million of popu- 
lation; in Roman Catholic Belgium, eighteen; in 
Roman Catholic France, thirty-one; in Austria, 
thirty-six; in Bavaria, sixty-eight; Tuscany, fifty- 
six; while in the Papal States there were one 
hundred, and thirteen murderers to the million; in 
Roman Catholic Sicily, ninety; in Naples, one 
hundred and seventy -four; at the same time there 



ROME AND MORALS. 33 

were, in Protestant England, only four murders 
to the million. Name any Protestant country in 
Europe, and let its depths of vice and immorality 
be measured and named, and I will name a Koman 
Catholic country or city whose depths of vice and 
immorality are lower still." 

The Tablet^ a Koman Catholic paper of England, 
1888, said: "Upon looking into the matter, I 
found that we Catholics contribute more young 
criminals than any other religious denomination. 



5? 



TEMPERANCE. 

The position of Pome toward a number of 
public questions will demonstrate this position. 
Take the question of temperance for example. A 
large per cent, of the saloon-keepers are Catho- 
lics. The Wine and Spirit Gazette^ of New 
York, claims: '^Fully two-thirds, if not more, of 
the retail liquor dealers of the country are Roman 
Catholics. Some of these are liberal contributors 
of church funds." If it is objected that this is 
not Catholic authority, I refer you to a statement 
made by the president of the Catholic Total Ab- 
stinence Society, through the Catholic Standard: 
"One city has less than 30 per cent, of its popu- 
lation Catholic, and more than 52 per cent, of its- 
applicants for license. Another has more than 
56 per cent, of its saloon-keepers Catholics and 



34 



AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 



less than 30 per cent, of its population. One 
town had about 20 per cent, of its population 
Catholics and more than 42 per cent, of its appli- 
cants for license. Another had more than 55 per 
cent, of its applicants for license, and about 25 
per cent, of its population Catholics." 




|gl|iir^ni-i 



The Catholic Review^ a leading Catholic organ 
of New York, speaks of the saloons in the fol- 
lowing fashion: "Of course, there have been 
many brilliant exceptions, but, as a rule, have the 
Catholics of New York City reason to be proud 
of the career in public life of the men, professedly 



ROxME AND MORALS. 35 

Catholics, who have, for instance, been elected 
for these many years past to represent the city in 
the State Assembly? Go over the list of them— a 
long list — during the last ten years. Look at the 
representation" in Congress during the last twenty 
years, including an ex-prize-fighter. Is it neces- 
sary, ten years after the decree of the Baltimore 
Council, that saloon-keepers shall dominate the 
'Catholic vote? ' But they do it practically, and 
the man who denies this is either dishonest or 
ignorant. The saloon-keepers are a potency in 
the political organizations as they have been made 
up so far, and the mass of the 'Catholic vote' has 
so far been following the dictates of one or the 
other political organizations. Behind the saloon- 
keepers are the brewers, who hold chattel mort- 
gages from the saloon-keepers, and most of th^e 
brewers are now working together under some 
form of a 'trust.' . . . The common sense 
of mankind has long ago declared that saloon- 
keepers and their partners or abettors are not, by 
the very circumstances of their calling and asso- 
ciations, the sort of men to guide or represent the 
public spirit, and that any political organization 
in which such persons are allowed to be dominant 
members is by that very fact disqualified to expect 
the votes, or support in any way, of citizens who 
are Catholics in religion. That is undoubtedly 



36 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

what the latest encyclical means in this respect." 
Archbishop Ireland declares : ' 'Catholics nearly 
monopolize the liquor traffic. . . . Our dis- 
grace and our misfortune in America is the num- 
ber of Irish saloon-keepers. ... The lists 
of culprits with Irish names appearing before 
municipal jails and reformatories, strike us with 
horror! . . . Where is there sin? .Where 
are children neglected? Wliere is there cursing 
and quarreling? Where is innocence driven to 
despair? Where are souls lost? Where whisky 
enters. Question if you may the damned souls 
of Irish Catholics amid the flames of hell. I am 
sure, if they were to answer, no one cause of 
damnation, they would tell you, compares witii 
rum. . . . 'Far more than landlordism,' 
has said one of the most zealous opponents of 
Irish landlordism, Mr. A. M. Sullivan, 'has in- 
temperance impoverished Ireland.' " 

Dr. Brownson, in 1862, in a treatise on "Prot- 
estantism and Infidelity," says: "The worst 
governed cities in the Union are precisely those 
in which Catholics are the most influential in 
elections, and have the most to do with municipal 
affairs. We furnish more than our share of the 
rowdies, the drunkards and the vicious popula- 
tion of our large cities. The majority of the 
grog-sellers in the city of New York are Catho- 



ROME AND MORALS. 37 

lies, and the portions of the city where grog- 
selling, drunkenness and filth most abound are 
those chiefly inhabited by Catholics, and we 
scarcely see the slightest effort made for a 
reformation." 

GAMBLING. 

The Roman Catholic Church encourages gam- 
bling. In the Cathedral of the City of Mexico I 
was entreated to buy lottery tickets. In the Old 
World nearly all of the Catholic churches are 
supported by lotteries, and Catholic lotteries are 
common in this country. Upon the completion 
of the Cathedral, on Fifth avenue, in New York, 
a fair was projected. Religious zeal and curiosity 
attracted vast crowds during the days and even- 
ings that it lasted. The New York Evening Post 
gave a sketch of what one of its staff witnessed 
at the gaming-table on one of these evenings. 
Referring to the scene, the reporter asked the 
Rev, Dr. McGlynn if there was no harm in that. 
He is reported to have said in reply: ''Well, I 
suppose, as a matter of taste, such games might 
perhaps have been dispensed with. But it is, at 
best, "a question of taste. You may say, of course, 
that those boys will acquire a love for gambling, 
and will be tempted hereafter to visit objection- 
able places. But the danger in their case is re- 



38 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

mote. As for their act, it is innocent in itself; 
it is done in a church, and, it is to be presumed, 
with their own money — money given them for 
the purpose. Now, surely it is not wrong to do 
an innocent act; it is not wrong to go to church 
and do it; it is not wrong to do it with your own 
property. So far as ulterior consequences are 
concerned, why, suppose somebody should object 
to our taking a glass of wine together because we 
might acquire an unfortunate taste for liquor and 
become drunkards, or because our example might 
lead others to become drunkards. That would be 
voted the highest height of fanaticism in many 
countries. In this country, where there is so 
much drunkenness, it is doubtless well for many 
persons to practice total abstinence. But it 
wouldn't follow from that, would it, that you 
and I shouldn't take a friendly glass of wine? 
You see, if cathedrals are to be built, we must 
have money to build them with. They are good 
things; they are centers of religion, distributors 
of charity, exponents and promoters of what 
beautifies and renders lovelier our lives. But in 
this country you can't levy money by law for 
erecting them; you can't send a sheriff around 
and distrain people's goods. So, as we can't 
force money out of people, we must coax it out 
of them, and in this process of coaxing the 



ROME AND MORALS. 39 

Church winks at some things that confessedly are 
not among the most approved means of sanctifi- 
cation. " 

When ecclesiastical dignitaries see no harm 
in gambling, and deliberately encourage it in 
their flock as an appropriate means of sustaining 
the church, it is not surprising that the habit finds 
imitators and apologists in every class of human 
society. "When the abbot throws the dice," 
says Luther, "the whole convent will play." 

PROFANITY. 

The Bible says: "Thou shalt not take the 
name of the Lord thy God in vain." (Exodus, 
20:7). 

Bishop Shanley, North Dakota, says: "It 
is the great Catholic sin, the sin of profanity. 
Catholic men swear every day. ' The one that does 
not swear is the exception. Catholic women 
swear, too, and so do Catholic children. The 
third great sin is that of intemperance. Were it 
not for drunkenness, the Catholic Church would 
not be struggling for a bare existence, as it is in 
this land to-day. You start, but it is no novice 
that is talking to you. No child that does not 
know what is going on in the world." 



40 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

FALSE SWEARING. 

The Bible says: ''Thou shalt not bear false wit- 
ness against thy neighbor." (Ex. 20:17). That 
is a plain statute against lying. 

Home says that you may bear false witness. 

Filiucius says: "There is no mortal sin when 
one forsweareth himself without perceiving it at 
all, and by natural inadvertence, though he who 
doth it hath his will effectually addicted to sin by 
an evil habit." (Filiucius, Mor. Ques. torn. 2, 
tract. 25, cap. 10, No. 316). "With what 
precaution may we equivocate? By intending 
to use only material words. A person may 
begin to say, I swear. He can add this mental 
restriction — To-day, or in a whisper he may re- 
peat, I say, and then resume his former tone, I 
did not do it." (Ibid, id., cap. 11, No. 328). 

Layman says: "It is not sufficient for an oath 
if we use the formal words, if we have not the 
intention and will to swear, and do not sincerely 
invoke God as a witness." (Lib. 4, tract. 3, 
cap. 1, p. 73). 

Bauny says: "He who maintains an heretical 
proposition without believing it, or who is a com- 
municant among the Protestants without having 
his heart there, but out of pure derision, or to 
comply with the times and to accomplish his 
designs, ought not to be esteemed a Protestant, 



ROME AND MORALS. 41 

l)ecause his understanding is not infected with 
«rror. " (Sum., cap. 6, cone. 4, p. 73). 

Taberna says: "Is a witness bound to declare 
the truth before a legitimate judge? No; if his 
deposition will injure himself, his family, or 
property ; or if he be a priest, for a priest can not 
Tie forced to testify before a secular judge. " (Yol. 
^, part 2, tract. 2, cap. 31, p. 288). 

Escobar says (tract. 1, exam. 3, cap. 7, No. 
31, p. 74): "Is it lawful to suborn any person 
to swear to a false thing?" To which Hurtudo 
and Sanchez, with himself, answer in the affirma- 
tive. Filiucius thus replies (torn. 2, ques. moral, 
tract. 21, cap. 11, No. 346 and No. 347, p.^06): 
•"Any one, upon a lawful cause, may request a 
man to swear, though he will be forsworn; and 
this thing is not evil in itself, to require an oath 
of a person whom we know will forswear himself. " 

Charli, in his Propositions No. 6, affirms that: 
■^'He who is not bound to state the truth before 
swearing, is not bound by his oath, provided that 
lie makes the internal restriction that excludes the 
present case. " (See Filiucius, previously quoted). 

Castro Falao says: "In a question of right 
and wrong, a judge may pronounce according to 
a probable opinion, in preference to the more 
probable opinion, even though it should be con- 
trary to his own judgment." 



42 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

Molina says: "Judges may receive presents 
from parties, when they are given them either for 
friendship's sake or in gratitude for some former 
act of justice, or to induce them to give justice 
in the future, or to oblige them to any particular 
attention to their case, or to engage them to dis- 
patch it promptly." 

All of these principles are sanctioned by 
Suarez (in his "Precepts of Law," book 3, chap. 
9, assertion 2, p. 4:73), where he says: "If any 
one has promised, or contracted without intention 
to promise, and is called upon oath to answer, 
may simply answer, No; and may swear to that 
denial." 

Liguori, in his treatise on oaths, question 4, 
asks if it is allowable to use ambiguity, or equiv- 
ocal words, to deceive the judge when under 
oath, and at No. 151 he answers: "It is certain, 
and the opinion of all theologians, that for good 
reasons one may be permitted to use equivoca- 
tions and to maintain them by oath; and by 
'good reasons' we mean all that can do any good 

to the body or the soul." 

"Though lying is forbidden, we may be allowed 
to conceal the truth, or to disguise it under am- 
biguous or equivocal words or signs, for a just 
cause, and when there is no necessity to confess 
the truth. If by that means one can rid himself 



ROME AND MORALS. 43, 

of dangerous pursuits, he is permitted to use it; 
for in general it is not true to say that, when in- 
terrogated by public authority about his faith, he 
is obliged to reveal it." (Liguori, L. 2). 

STEALING. 

The Bible says: "Thou shalt not steal." (Ex.. 
20:5). 

Rome says that you may steal. 

Liguori says: "A servant has a right to roh 
his master, a child his father, and a poor man the 
rich! . . , There are many opinions about 
the amount which may be stolen to constitute a 
mortal sin. Navar has said, too scrupulously, 
that to steal a half -piece of gold is a mortal sin; 
while others, too lax, hold that to steal less than 
ten pieces of gold can not be a serious sin. But 
Tol, Mech, Less, etc., have more wisely ruled 
that to steal two pieces of gold constitutes a mor- 
tal sin. ... If any one steals small sums at 
different times, either from the same or different 
persons, not having any intention of stealing 
large sums, nor of causing a great damage, his 
sin is not mortal ; particularly if the thief is poor, 
and if he has the intention to give back what he 
has stolen." 

Escobar says: "A child who serves his father, 
may secretly purloin as much as his father would 



44 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

Jiave given a stranger for his compensation." 
(Theolog. Moral., Yol. 4, Lib. 34, Sect. 2, Prob. 
16, p. 348). 

Cardenas says: "Servants may secretly steal 
from their masters as much as they judge their 
labor is worth more than the wages which they 
received." (Crisis Theolog., Diss. 23, cap. 2, 
•art. 1, p. 474). 

Gordonus says: "A woman may take the prop- 
erty of her husband, to supply her spiritual wants, 
and to act like other women." (Theolog. Moral. 
Univ., Lib. 5, Quest. 3, Cap. 4, p. 826). 

Emmanuel Sa says: "It is not mortal sin to 
steal that from a man which he would have given 
if asked for it. It is not theft to take anything 
irom a husband or father, if the value be not con- 
siderable." (Aphorism, verbum Furtum, p. 161). 

Francis Xavier Fegeli says: "After a son has 
secretly robbed his father as a compensation, the 
Confessor need not enforce restitution, if he has 
taken no more than a just reward for his labor." 
(Pars 3, cap. 6, Quest. 11, p. 158). 

St. Aphoris says: "He who, in taking what 
is another's, doth him no injury, is not obliged to 
make restitution." (Furtum, cap. 6, p. 292). 

ADULTERY. 

The Bible says: "Thou shalt not commit 
adultery." (Ex. 20:14). 



ROME AND MORALS. 45« 

Rome sajs that you maj commit adultery. 

Liguori says: "May a servant bring a ladder 
and help his master to go up and commit adultery? 
Buss and others think that he may do it, and I am 
of the same opinion." (Liguori, Q. 2). 

The crime of adultery has the sanction of the 
Roman Catholic Church, in this wise: "They 
deny all civil and Christian marriage to be true 
and lawful marriage when not performed within 
the Roman Catholic Church, and Pope Pius IX. 
calls it 'filthy concubinage.' They have divided 
between a husband and wife in England — I quote 
from Mr. Gladstone in his preface to 'Vaticanism' 
— because they were not married by a Romish 
priest; this man having embraced the Romish 
faith for the sake of getting rid of a noble and 
excellent wife. Mr. Gladstone calls attention to 
the fact, and wonders that the menace to human 
society contained in the act had not been taken 
more account of in England." (From "Roman- 
ism and the Republic," pp. 274: and 275). 

MURDER. 

The Bible says: "Thou shalt not kill." (Ex, 
20:13). 

Rome says that you may commit murder. 

St. Thomas Aquinas says: "When a man is 
excommunicated for his apostasy, it follows from 



46 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

that very fact that all those who are his subjects 
are released from the oath of allegiance by which 
they were bound to obey him." (St. Thomas, 
Yol. 4, p. 91). 

The Council of Lateran, A. D. 1215, decreed, 
and that decree is still binding: "We excommu- 
nicate and anathematize every heresy that exalts 
itself against the holy orthodox and Catholic 
faith, condemning all heretics, by whatever name 
they may be known; for, though their faces differ, 
they are tied together by their tails. Such as are 
condemned are to be delivered over to the exist- 
ing secular powers, to receive due punishment. 
If laymen, their goods must be confiscated. If 
priests, they shall be first degraded from their 
respective orders, and their property applied to 
the use of the church in which they have offi- 
ciated. Secular powers of all ranks and degrees 
are to be warned, induced, and, if necessary, com- 
pelled by ecclesiastical censure, to swear that 
they will exert themselves to the utmost in the 
defense of the faith, and extirpate all heretics 
denounced by the Church who shall be found in 
their territories. And whenever any person shall 
assume government, whether it be spiritual or 
temporal, he shall be bound to abide by this 
•decree. 

"Catholics who shall assume the Cross for the 



ROME AND MORALS. 47 

extermination of heretics shall enjoy the same in- 
dulgences and be protected by the same privileges 
as are granted to those who go to the help of the 
Holy Land. 

"It is of faith that the pope has the right of 
deposing heretical and rebel kings. Monarchs so 
deposed by the pope are converted into notorious 
tyrants, and may be killed by the first who can 
reach them. 

"If the public cause can not meet with its de- 
fense in the death of a tyrant, it is lawful for the 
first who arrives to assassinate him." (Suarez, 
Defensio Fidei, Book 6, chap. 4, Nos. 13, 14). 

Bussambaum says: "A man who has been ex-, 
communicated by the pope may be killed any- 
where, as Escobar and Deaux teach, because the 
pope has an indirect jurisdiction over the whole 
world, even in temporal things, as all Catholics 
maintain, and as Suarez proves against the King 
of England." (Bussambaum — Lacroi, Theologia 
Moralis, 1757). 

Cratineau Joly, the Roman Catholic historian 
of the Jesuits, approvingly says: "Father Gui- 
vard, writing about Henry lY., King of France, 
says: 'If he can not be deposed, let us make 
war; and if we can not make war, let him be 
killed.' " (Yol. 2, p. 435). 

TheRainhler^ one of the most prominent Roman 



48 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

Catholic papers of England, September, 1851^ 
says: "You ask if the pope were lord of this 
land and you were in a minority what he would 
do to you? That, we say, would entirely depend 
on circumstances. If it would benefit the cause 
of Catholicism, he would tolerate you; if expe- 
dient, he would imprison, banish you, probably 
he might even hang you. But be assured of one 
thing, he would never tolerate you for the sake 
of your glorious principles of civil and religious 
liberty." 

La Croix says: "A man condemned by the 
pope may be killed wherever he is found. " (Yol. 
1, p. 294). 

Henriquez says: "If an adulterous priest, even 
aware of his danger, having visited an adulteress, 
is assailed by her husband, and kills the man in 
his own defense, it is not criminal." (Sum of 
Moral Theology, vol. 1, bookie, chap. 10, p. 869). 

Amicus says: "It is lawful for a priest or monk 
to kill a man who threatens to publish some great 
crimes against him or his order. A monk who 
feminam cognovit, quae honori ducens se prosti- 
tutam esse tanto viro, boasts of it, and thereby 
defames him, may kill that woman." (Tom. 5, 
de Just, et Jure Disput. 36, sec. 4, Bo. 218). 

Fergundez says: "Papist children may accuse 
their parents for heresy, although they know their 



ROME AND MORALS. 49 

parents will be burned for it; not only may they 
deny them nourishment, but they may justly kill 
them, if the parents would turn their children 
from the Popish faith. " "If a priest at the altar is 
attacked by any one, he may leave the ceremony 
and defend himself; and, although he may kill 
the assailant, he may immediately return to the 
altar and finish the mass." "If a judge decides 
contrary to the law, the injured person may de- 
fend himself by killing the judge." (Precept. 
Decalog., vol. 1, lib. 4:, cap. 2, pp. 501, 655; and 
vol. 2, lib. 8, cap. 32, p. 390). 

Guimenius promulgated his seventh proposition 
in these words: "You may charge your opponent 
with false crimes, to destroy his credit; and you 
may also kill him." 

Molina (de Just, et Jure, tom. 4, tract. 3, Dis- 
put. 14, p. 1765), says: "An adulterer may law- 
fully kill the husband of the woman, if her hus- 
band, having surprised him with his wife, do 
assault him." Tamburin is of the same opinion. 
From which Molina, in his fourth volume, deduces 
this corollary, p. 1766: "A thief having entered 
into a house to steal, in conscience may kill him 
who would punish him for his theft, if he can not 
otherwise escape." Again (in vol. 3, Disput. 16, 
p. 1768), he says: "Priests may kill the laity, 

to preserve their goods." 
4 



50 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

Francis Xavier Fegeli says: "It is not mortal 
sin for parents to wish the death of their chil- 
dren, nor to desire the death of any one who 
troubles the Church, because considerable good 
is the direct and immediate object." (Quest. 
Prac, pars 4, cap. 1, quest. 7, num. 8, p. 285). 

Dicastillo says: "If a man becomes a nuisance 
to society, the son may lawfully kill his father." 
(Lib. 2, tract. 1, Disput. 10, Dub. 1, num. 15, 
p. 290). 

Escobar says: "Children are obliged to de- 
nounce their parents or relations who are guilty 
of heresy, altliough they know they will be burned. 
They may refuse them all nourishment, and per- 
mit them to die with hunger, or may kill them as 
enemies, who violate the rights of humanity." 
(Theolog. Moral., vol. 4, lib. 31, sec. 2, Precept. 
4, Prob. 5, p. 230). 

Gobatus published a work which he entitled 
* 'Morality," and in vol. 2, part 2, tract. 5, chap. 
:9, sec. 8, p. 318, is the following edifying speci- 
men of Popish morals: "A son who inherits 
great wealth by the death of his father may re- 
joice that when he was intoxicated he murdered 
his father." 

Alagona, in his "Compend of the Sum of 
Theology," by Thomas Aquinas, quest. 94, p. 
230, "Sums" up all the Romish system in this 



ROME AND MORALS. 51 

comprenensively blasphemous oracular adage: 
"By the command of God it is lawful to murder 
the innocent, to rob, and commit lewdness; and 
thus to fulfill his mandate is our duty." 

Pope Urban II., Decree, 1088, says: "Those 
are not to be accounted murderers or homicides 
who, when burning with love and zeal for their 
Catholic mother against excommunicated Prot- 
estants, shall happen to kill a few of them." 

UNHOLY PRIESTHOOD. 

2. The priesthood are not holy. The priesthood 
have been guilty of almost every know^n sin. 
Cardinal Gibbons is compelled to confess: "It 
can not be denied that corruption of morals pre- 
vailed in the sixteenth century to such an extent 
as to call for a sweeping reformation, and that 
laxity of discipline invaded even the sanctuary." 
(Faith of Our Fathers, p. 45). This is no pleas- 
ant theme to me. I do not desire to point out the 
sins and follies of men. But in view of the 
enormous claims of Rome I must speak a few 
words. It seems incredible that there should 
have been an occasion for legislation against 
clergymen keeping houses of prostitution; and 
yet the Quinisexta or Trullan Synod of 692 
enacted this canon: "He who keeps a brothel, if 
a clergyman, shall be deposed and excommuni- 



52 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

cated; if a layman, excommunicated." (Hefele, 
vol. 3, p. 341). 

I could fill the pages of a book witn the unholy 
doings of the priesthood. This dispatch, from 
Pana, 111., was in the New York Mercury^ a 
Catholic newspaper: "Rev. Father Stick, who 
last summer gained notoriety by publicly assail- 
ing Protestants, said to his parishioners yesterday: 
^I have members who will not rent pews because 
they are too poor, yet they have money to get 
drunk twice a month. I wish they would get 
drunk to-night and lay out doors and freeze to 
death. There are members of my congregation 
who allow their daughters to go to high-toned 
balls and dance in full dress — no dress at all. 
Only indecent Catholics, Protestants and heretics 
go to such places.'" 

The St. Louis Republic^ June 20, 1887, prints 
a letter from Bishop Hogan, of St. Joseph, Mo. 
That letter was written to defend himself against 
the slanders of the twenty-two priests whom he 
had dismissed for immoralities. The bishop says: 
"The constant, shameful, public and sacrilegious 
drunkenness of the last three mentioned priests, 
who were by my side at the Cathedral, deter- 
mined me to wipe them and their kind out of my 
jurisdiction. Herbert, after repeated drunken- 
ness, went into a spree for a week in my house; 



ROME AND MORALS. 53 

was in the house, broke out at night, got into a 
house of disreputable women in his drunkenness, 
and was thrown out into the street, picked up 
drunk, recognized and taken into a house and 
made sober, and put into a carriage and taken to 
my house. That evening Galvin and Kiley were 
told by me to prepare for the proper celebration 
of Easter Sunday. On Saturday they staid up all 
night, drinking, carousing and shouting. Kiley 
fell down, blackened and almost broke his face in 
falling. Of course, the two sacrilegious priests 
said Mass the next day; Kiley went into the pul- 
pit, and preached with his blackened and bruised 
face, to the people of the Cathedral. It was time 
for me to begin a reformation." 

Bishop Yandeveld, Chicago, about the middle 
of this century, said: "I can not any longer as- 
sume the responsibilities of such a high position, 
because it is beyond my power to fulfill my duties 
and do what the Church requires of me. The 
conduct of the priests of this diocese is such that, 
should 1 follow the regulations of the canon, I 
would be forced to interdict all my priests with 
the exception of two or three. They are all 
either notorious drunkards or given to public or 
secret concubinage. I do not think^hat ten of 
them believe in God. Religion is nothing to 
them but a well-paying comedy. Where can I 



54 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

find a remedy for such a general evil? Can I 
punish one of them and leave the others free in 
their abominable doings, when they are almost all 
equally guilty? Would not the general interdic- 
tion of these priests be the death-blow to 
our Church in Illinois? Besides, how can I 
punish them, when I know that many of them are 
ready to poison me the very moment I raise a 
finger against them?" 

That the priests are negligent in their spiritual 
duties can not be doubted. A very popular priest, 
Father Lawler, died some months ago in Louis- 
ville. He had forgotten to say masses for a num- 
ber of persons, hence he left three hundred dollars 
to another priest for that purpose. The publica- 
tion of his will, which contained this clause, in 
the Courier- Journal and other papers in this city, 
was the sensation of the hour. 

The following case is recorded in Rochester, 
New York: 

DEYISED 1200 FOE MASSES. 

THE DEFENDANTS CLAIM THAT THE DECEASED CHANGED 

HER MIND THOUGH NOT HER WILL AND 

THAT THE MONEY HAS BEEN PAID 

TO ANOTHER CHURCH. 

An action has been commenced by Werner & 
Werner on behalf of Father Oberholzer and the 



ROME AND MORALS. 55 

Holy Bedeemer church against Elizabeth Kolb, 
as survivor, in a case involving a peculiar state 
of facts. Some eight or ten years ago, Andrew 
and Elizabeth Kolb were given by a relative's 
will, the place where they resided until the death 
of the former, on the condition that they pay 
Father Oberholzer $200 for Masses for the repose 
of that relative's soul. On the death of one of 
the couple the survivor was to succeed. The 
years rolled on. Andrew Kolb died and his wife 
is now in possession of the property, but the $200 
were never paid. Father Oberholzer began to be 
anxious for the legacy, and one day called upon 
Judge Werner to ask his advice. He was informed 
that his church was clearly entitled to the legacy 
and, the condition remaining unfulfilled, there 
was serious doubt whether the Kolbs ever acquired 
legal title to their property. The papers were 
drawn for the commencement of an action to en- 
force payment, and Father Oberholzer came in to 
sign them when Judge Werner, as an afterthought, 
asked causually if the Masses had in fact been 
said. Father Oberholzer replied that, of course, 
they had not. He had not proposed to say them 
in advance of receipts of the legacy. He was 
advised that he had better say the Masses with as 
much expedition as possible before signing the 



56 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

complaint, and that the bringing of the suit would 
have to wait a day or so. 

The Masses were said and then the plaintiff re- 
turned and the action was brought in due form. 
It now appears that the excuse of the defendants 
for the apparent disregard of the expressed desire 
of their benefactress, which was made a condition 
precedent to their legacy, is that shortly before 
her death, she had transferred her membership to 
another church, and that, following the spirit 
rather than the letter of her bequest, they some 
years ago paid the money to another church for the 
service which had just been performed by Father 
Oberholzer. While morally, this may be all 
right, it is believed the first will not constitute a 
legal defense. (Rochester, N. Y., Post-Express^ 
December 24, 1894). 

THE CONFESSIONAL. 

I believe the reason for all of this corruption in 
the Catholic Church flows from auricular confes- 
sion. The confession box is a sink of iniquity, 
and can not be reformed. It is essentially vicious 
and alike drags down priest and people to infamy. 
It corrupts the priest and pours the foulest sug- 
, gestions into the minds of the purest women. I 
can not degrade these pages by even printing the 
questions, taken from the pages of Liguori and 



ROME AND MORALS. 57 

Dens, asked of women in the confessional. I 
will, however, give what Roman Catholic author- 
ities declare is the effect of the confessional. 

Alphonsus Mary de Liguori was canonized bj 
the pope in 1839. Before he was made a saint 
his works were "rigorously examined" by the 
Sacred Congregation at Home, which declared 
"in all his works, whether printed or inedited, 
there was not a word worthy of censure." Yet 
these books are too vile to be read by men or 
'devils. In 1871 Pius IX. raised him to the high 
-dignity of a "Doctor of the whole Church." 

Of the confessional, Liguori is compelled to 
admit: "It grieves me much concerning this 
matter (the confessional), which contains so much 
:filthiness, as by its very name will disturb pure 
minds, to give a longer dissertation; but oh! that 
this subject were not so frequent as it is in con- 
fessions, that it would not behoove the confessor 
altogether to be fully, but very briefly instructed. " 
(Liguori, vol. 6, p. 303). . . . "With re- 
luctance we enter upon the consideration of this 
-matter (auricular confession), the very name of 
which alone pollutes the minds of men," (Yol. 
•2, p. 206). . . . "And, indeed, oh! how 
many priests, who before were innocent, and on 
account of similar attractions (in the confessional) 
Lave lost both, God and their soul. Oh! what 



58 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

misery it is to observe so many confessors, who 
spend a large portion of the day in hearing the 
confessions of certain religious women, who are 
commonly called Bizocas. Oh! how many con- 
fessors have lost their own souls and those of 
their penitents." (Yol. 8, p. 77). 

Four Roman Catholic bishops of Ireland, Mur- 
ray, Keating, Doyle and Kinsilla, wrote, in 1831, 
a book in which they admitted: "It must be 
considered how great is the burden and danger of 
those who undertake so formidable an office, since 
experience proves that this remedy (the confes- 
sional box) so salutary to the fallen, is sometimes 
perverted by the ignorance and negligence of 
confessors, that this fountain of grace is turned 
into an occasion of perdition. We fear that there is 
no time in which the melancholy saying of St. 
Thomas'of Yillanova is not fulfilled in some con- 
fessors, 'that they send themselves and sinners 
down careless into hell.' " 

Garcia, a Jesuit priest, declared: "A woman 
of thirty-three years of age came to confess to 
me and told me that from sixteen years of age 
until twenty-four she had committed all sorts of 
lewdness with ecclesiastical persons only, having 
in every convent a friar, who, under the name of 
cousin, used to visit her." 

But I forbear. These things are so vile that I 



ROME AND MORALS. 59' 

will not further press this subject. The effect of 
the confessional is always to lower the moral tone. 
I think I have clearly showed, in this chapter, 
that the tendency of the Catholic Church is toward 
an overthrow of morals, and that, therefore, it is 
dangerous to the well-being of the State. 



«0 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 



CHAPTER III. 

THE ATTITUDE OF ROME TOWARD CIVIL LIBERTY. 

ROME claims the right, and acts upon that 
claim, to control all civil governments. 
She is not content with performing spiritual func- 
tions, but she declares that her prerogatives ex- 
tend to all civil affairs. A man who is a true 
Homan Catholic can not be a true American citi- 
zen. Any man who believes fully the doctrines 
of Rome is a traitor to the American government. 
I do not believe that all American Catholics are 
traitors. I believe that on the drumbeat that 
many of them would stand for our liberties. 
They would not do this because they were Catho- 
lics, but because they are patriots in spite of 
Catholicism. This has been the history of Catholi- 
cism. That the Catholic hierarchy is opposed to 
our government will appear in many ways: 

1. This has been the opinion of many of our 
great statesmen. They had every opportunity to 
observe and they could not be mistaken. I have 
the space and will give the opinions of a few men 
who were not fanatics. They were the defenders 
of our liberties, and were our bravest men. Their 
testimony will stand. 



ROME AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 61 

Lafayette, who was born a Romanist, says: 
''If the liberties of the American people are ever 
destroyed, they will fall by the hands of the 
Romish clergy." (From the title page of the 
"Confession of a French Catholic Priest"). 

Washington said: "Against the insidious wiles 
of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, 
fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people 
ought to be constantly awake, since history and 
experience prove that foreign influence is one of 
the most baneful foes of republican government." 

Thomas Jefferson said: "1 can scarcely with- 
hold myself from joining in the wish of Silas 
Deane, that there was an ocean of fire between 
this and the old world." 

Daniel Webster said: "There is an imperative 
necessity for reforming the naturalization laws. 
I will go as far as the farthest in this matter." 

2. We are led to doubt Rome because she has 
been the dangerous foe to liberty in every coun- 
try. She has been true to no government and to 
no nation. I shall quote from a few great states- 
men. 

Gladstone, the grand old man, says: "The 
pope demands for himself the right to determine 
the province of his own rights, and has so defined 
it in formal documents as to warrant any and 
every invasion of the civil sphere; and that this 



62 



AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 




WILLIAM E. GLADSTONE 



ROME AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 63 

new version of the p;:inciples of the Papal Church 
inexorably binds its members to the admission of 
these exorbitant claims, without any refuge or 
reservation on behalf of their duty to the crown." 
(Vatican Decrees, p. 31). He adds: "That 
Rome requires a convert who joins her to forfeit 
his moral and mental freedom, and to place his 
loyalty and civil duty at the mercy of another." 
(Yatican Decrees, Third Proposition). 

John Milton said: "Popery is a double thing 
to deal with, and claims a two-fold power — ecclesi- 
astical and political; both usurped, and the one 
supporting the other." 

Bismarck says: "This pope, this foreigner, 
this Italian, is more powerful in this country than 
any other person, not excepting the king. And 
now please to consider what this foreigner has 
announced as the programme by which he rules 
Prussia and elsewhere. He begins by taking to 
himself the right to define how far his authority 
extends; and this pope, who would employ fire 
and sword against us if he had the power to do 
so, who would confiscate our property and not 
spare our lives, expects us to allow him full, un- 
controlled sway." 

Castelar, the great Spanish statesman, says: 
"There is not a single progressive principle which 
has not been cursed by the Catholic Church. 



64 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

This is true of England and Germany, as well as. 
of Catholic countries. The Church cursed the 
French Revolution, the Belgium Constitution and 
the Italian independence. Nevertheless, all these 
principles have unrolled themselves in spite of it. 
■Not a constitution has been born, not a single 
progress made, not a solitary reform effected, 
which has not been under the terrible anathemas 
of the Church. " 

Gen. Grant, in 1876, speaking before the Army 
of the Tennessee, said: "If we are to have an- 
other contest in the near future of our national 
existence, I predict that the dividing line will not 
be Mason and Dixon's, but it will be between 
patriotism and intelligence on one side and super- 
stition, ambition and ignorance on the other. 
Let us all labor for the security of free thought, 
free speech, free press and pure morals; unfet- 
tered religious sentiments and equal rights and 
privileges for all men, irrespective of nationality^ 
color or religion. ' ' (Romanism and the Republic). 

Abraham Lincoln said: "As long as God 
gives me a heart to feel, a brain to think, or a 
hand to execute my will, I devote it against that 
power which has attempted to use the machinery 
of the courts to destroy the rights and character 
of an American citizen. But there is a thing 
whichvis very certain; it is, that if the American 



ROME AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 65 

people could learn what I know of the fierce 
hatred of the generality of the priests of Rome 
against our institutions, our schools, our most 
sacred rights, and our so dearly bought liberties,, 
they would drive them away, to-morrow, from 
among us, or would shoot them as traitors. 
. The history of the last thousand years 
tells us that wherever the Church of Rome is not 
a dagger to pierce the bosom of a free nation, she 
is a stone to her neck, and a ball to her feet, to 
paralyze her and prevent her advance in the ways 
of civilization, science, intelligence, happiness and 
liberty. ... I do not pretend to be a 
prophet. But though not a prophet, 1 see a very 
dark cloud on our horizon. And that dark cloud 
is coming from Rome. It is filled with tears of 
blood. It will rise and increase, till its flanks 
will be torn by a flash of lightning, followed by 
a fearful peal of thunder. Then a cyclone such 
as the world has never seen will pass over this 
country, spreading ruin and desolation from 
north to south. After it is over, there will he 
long days of peace and prosperity; for popery,, 
with its Jesuits and merciless Inquisition, will 
have been forever swept away from our country. 
Neither I nor you, but our children, will see those 
things." 



66 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

THE JESUITS. 

We have to do, almost entirely, in this country, 
with the Jesuits, and they have been traitors to 
every country that they have entered. They 
have been banished as traitors from almost every 
civilized land. To show something of their in- 
famous history in this century I quote a para- 
graph from George E. Steitz. He says: "As a 
warning they were banished from St. Petersburg 
and Moscow January 1, 1815. But they heeded 
not the warning; on the contrary, they tried their 
proselytizing talent on the Russian army, and 
March 25, 1820, they were banished from the 
country 'forever. ' Into Spain they were admitted 
by Ferdinand YII., but when, in the civil war 
which broke out after his death (1833), they- 
sided with Don Carlos, their college at Madrid 
was stormed by the people July 17, 1834, and 
they were expelled by the regent. Queen Chris- 
tiana, July 4, 1835. In Portugal they sided with 
Don Miguel, and were expelled (May 24, 1834,) 
by Dom Pedro. In France they never obtained 
a legal position; but they were tolerated and even 
favored by Louis XYIII. and Charles X. At 
Lyons they founded a very flourishing college. 
They made their influence strongly felt on the 
whole middle stage of education — that is, the 



ROME AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 67 

stage between the elementary and the scientific 
education; and their number arose to four hun- 
dred and thirtj-six, when the revolution of 1830 
suddenly swept them out of the country." 
(Schaff-Herzog Ency., vol 2, p. 1169). 

I take the following table from the United 
American^ Washington, D. C. It will show the 

EXPULSION OF THE JESUITS. 

Saragossa in 1555 

La Palintine in 1558 

Vienna in 1566 

Avignon in 1570 

Antwerp, from Portugal and Segovia in 1578 

England in 1578 

England, again in 1581 

England, again in 1586 

Japan in 1587 

Hungary and Transylvania in 1588 

Bordeaux in 1 589 

France in 1594 

Holland in 1596 

Toulon and Berne in '^ 1597 

England, by Queen Elizabeth in 1602 

England , again in 1604 

Denmark, Thorn and Venice in , 1606 

Venice, again in 1612 

Japan, again in 1613 

Bohemia in 1618 

Moravia in 1619 

Naples and the Netherlands in 1622 

China and India in 1623 

Malta in 1634 

Russia in 1723 

Savoy in 1729 

Paraguay in 1733 



68 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

Portugal, again in 1759 

France, again in 1764 

Spain and the two Sicilies in 1767 

Duchy of Parma and Malta in 1768 

Christendom (by bull of Pope Clement XIV.) 1773 

Russia, again in 1776 

France, again in 1804 

Swiss Cantons in 1804 

France, again in 1806 

Naples in : 1810 

Moscow, St. Petersburg and Soleure in 1816 

Belgium in 1818 

Brest (by its inhabitants) in October 1819 

Russia, forever, March 20 1820 

Spain, again in 1 820 

The Cathedral at Rouen, by the people, in 1825 

The Public and Private Schools in Belgium 1826 

Eight Colleges in France, June 16 1828 

Great Britain and Ireland, April 13 1829 

France, again in ] 831 

Saxony, in September 1831 

Portugal, again in May 1834 

Spain, again in July 1835 

Rheims (by its inhabitants) December 1838 

Lucerne in 1842 

Lucerne, again and forever, February 1845 

France, again in 1845 

Switzerland, September 6 1847 

Sardinia, March 2; Naples, March 11; Papal States, 
March 29; Linz, April 10; Vienna, April 16; 
Styria and Arch Duchy of Austria, May 8; 
Austrian Empire, May 8; Galicia, in July; Sar- 
dinia, again July 19; Sicily, June 20 1848 

Paraguay, again June 28 , 1858 

Italian States in 1859 

Sicily, again in 1860 

Brazil, by constitutional limitations, in 1889 

Mexico in 1867, 1885 and 1893 

Germany, July 4 1892 



ROME AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 69 

And yet these are the people who are trying to 
control our politics and to direct the destinies of 
this republic. 

3. Eomanism is opposed to the Constitution of 
the United States. The Constitution of the United 
States says: "This Constitution and the laws of 
the United States which shall be made in pursuance 
thereof . . . shall be the supreme law of 
the land." (Art. YI., sec. 2). The teachings of 
the pope is contrary to this. Kead over the 
declarations of our Constitution given above and 
then read the words of Rome below and you will 
be fully convinced. 

Archbishop Manning says: "Moreover, the 
right of deposing kings is inherent in the Su- 
preme Sovereignty which popes as vicegerents of 
Christ exercise over all Christian nations." (Es- 
says on Religion and Literature, p. 416, A. D. 1876). 

Bishop Gilmour, Cleveland, O., says in his 
Lenten Letter, March, 1873: "Nationalities must 
be subordinate to religion. We must learn that 
we are Catholics first and citizens next." 

Brownson says: "It is the intention of the pope 
to possess this country undoubtedly. In this' in- 
tention he is aided by the Jesuits and all the 
Catholic priests and prelates undoubtedly, if they 
are faithful to their religion." (Brownson, Q\iar- 
terly Heview^ April, 1845). 



TO AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

The Catholic World says: ''We do not accept 
this government, or hold it to be any government 
at all, or as capable of performing any of the 
proper functions of government. If the Ameri- 
can government is to be sustained and preserved 
at all, it must be by the rejection of the princi- 
ples of the Reformation (that is, the government 
by the people) and the acceptance of the Catholic 
principle, which is the government of the pope." 

The Canon Law, the undisputed, fundamental 
code of Romanism, is utterly incompatible with 
the Constitution and laws of our republic, as wit- 
ness the following leading provisions, gleaned 
therefrom by Dr. G. F. Yon Schulte, Professor 
of Canonical Law at Prague, viz. : 

"I. All human power is from evil, and must 
therefore be standing under the pope. 

"II. The temporal powers must act, uncon- 
ditionally, in accordance with the orders of the 
spiritual. 

"III. The Church is empowered to grant, or to 
take away, any temporal possession. 

"lY. The pope has the right to give countries 
and nations which are non-Catholic to Catholic 
regents, who can reduce them to slavery. 

"Y. The pope can make slaves of those Chris- 
tian subjects whose prince or ruling power is in- 
terdicted by the pope. 



ROME AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 71 

"YI. The laws of the Church concerning the 
liberty of the papal power, are based upon divine 
inspiration. 

' 'YII. The Church has the right to practice the 
unconditional censure of books. 

"YIII. The pope has the right to annul State 
laws, treaties, constitutions, etc., to absolve from 
obedience thereto, as soon as they seem detri- 
mental to the rights of the Church or those of 
the clergy." 

Father Menard, in St. Joachim's Church, in 
Detroit, Sunday, November 6, 1892, said: "When 
the Church needed armed men to enlist as Crusa- 
ders, the young men of the Church shouldered 
the musket and saber, and obeyed the orders of 
the Church. When the Church wanted to get rid 
of the Saracens, the faithful arose en masse and 
exterminated them. The Church may have to call 
on you to defend her rights in this country, and I 
know our young men will obey the Church again 
and take up arms to exterminate the enemies of 
the Church." {Detroit Journal, Nov. 7, 1892). 

W. F. Markoe, Secretary of the Catholic Truth 
Society, said, at the World's Columbian Catholic 
Congress: ' 'The American State recognizes only 
the Catholic religion. ... A nation whose 
mottoes are ' In God we trust ' and 'E pluribus 
nnum,' must soon recognize the necessity of 



72 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

unitj in religion, and when that day comes 
Catholicity will dawn like a new revelation on 
the American mind." 

Archbishop Katzer, Milwaukee, September, 
1891, said in the Buffalo Convention: "Brethren, 
before I am a German, before I am an American, 
I am a Catholic." 

The biographer of SatoUi, recently said in 
Munsey^s Magazine: "What Rome has done for 
other countries, she will do for the United 
States. Pope Leo rendered important services to 
the French Kepublic in two recent crises — so im- 
portant in the opinion of Chas. A. Dana that 
without it the republic would not have weathered 
the storm. It may yet appear that in the appoint- 
ment of Satolli to the American mission, he did 
the people's cause another notable service." 

The bull Unam Sanctavi of Boniface YIII., 
which is also a part of the Canon Law, and re- 
garded as an "Article of Faith," says: "It is 
necessary that one sword should be under an- 
other, and that the temporal authority should be 
subject to the spiritual power. And thus the 
prophecy of Jeremiah is fulfilled in the Church 
and the ecclesiastical power, 'Behold I have set 
thee over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull 
down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to 
build and to plant.' Therefore, if the earthly 



ROME AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 73 

power go astray, it must be judged by the spirit- 
ual power; but if the spiritual power go astray, it 
must be judged by God alone. Moreover, we 
declare, say, define and pronounce it to be alto- 
gether necessary to salvation that every human 
creature should be subject to the Roman Pontiff." 
(Corpus Juris Canonica, Leipsic ed., 1839, tom. 
ii., p. ^1159). 

December 8, 1864, Pius IX. said: ''It is an 
-error to hold that, in the case of conflicting laws 
between the two powers, the civil law ought to 
prevail." 

Leo XIII., in an encyclical, January 10, 1890, 
says: "It is wrong to break the law of Jesus 
Christ (the law of the pope meaning) in order to 
obey the magistrate, or under pretense of civil 
rights to transgress the laws of the church." 
Again he says on page 1 of the same encyclical: 
"But if the laws of the State are openly at vari- 
ance with the laws of God, if they inflict injury 
upon the Church ... or set at naught the 
authority of Jesus Christ, which is vested in the 
Supreme Pontiff, then indeed it becomes a duty 
to resist them, a sin to render obedience." 

That leading Catholics do not regard the Con- 
stitution of the United States as supreme, and 
that the law of the pope is supreme, is clear from 
the language of Yicar General Preston. He said 



74 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

in a sermon in New York, January 1, 1888: 
"Every word that Leo speaks from bis high chair 
is the voice of the Holy Ghost and must be 
obeyed. To every Catholic heart comes no 
thought but obedience. It is said that politics is 
not within the province of the Church, and that 
the Church has jurisdiction only in matters of 
faith. You say: 'I will receive my faith from the 
pontiff, but I will not receive my politics from 
him. ' This assertion is unloyal and untruthful. 
You must not think as you choose;, 
you must think as Catholics. The man who says, 
'I will take my faith from Peter, but I will not 
take my politics from Peter,' is not a true Catho- 
lic. The Church teaches that the supreme pontiff 
must be obeyed, because he is the vicar of the 
Lord. Christ speaks through him." 

That the pope does not recognize the supreme 
authority of our laws is made plain from the in- 
structions he gave the "American Pope." When 
Leo XIII. sent Satolli to the United States he 
issued an encyclical letter, bearing date January 
24, 1892. In that letter he says: "We com- 
mand all whom it concerns to recognize in you 
(Francisco Satolli), as apostolic delegate, the su- 
preme power of the delegating pontiff; we com- 
mand that they give you aid, concurrence and 
obedience in all things; that they receive with 



ROME AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 75 

reverence 3^our salutary admonitions and orders. 
Whatever sentence or penalty you shall duly de- 
clare or inflict against those who oppose our 
authority, we will ratify, and with the authority 
given us by the Lord, will cause to be observed 
inviolably until condign satisfaction be made, 
notwithstanding constitutions and apostolic ordi- 
nances, or others to the contrary." 

One of the latest encyclicals of Pope Leo XIIL 
bears date January 5, 1895. He complains that 
the Church and State are divorced. I quote a 
portion of the encyclical from the Catholic Tvmes^ 
of Philadelphia, February 2, 1895, as follows: 
"The main factor, no doubt, in bringing things, 
into this happy state were the ordinances and de- 
crees of your synods, especially of those which in 
more recent times were convened and confirmed 
by the authority of the Apostolic See. But, 
moreover (a fact which gives pleasure to acknowl- 
edge), thanks are due to the equity of the laws 
which obtain in America and to the customs of 
the well ordered republic. For the Church among 
you, unopposed by the Constitution and govern- 
ment of your nation, fettered by no hostile legis- 
lation, protected against violence by the common 
laws of and the impartiality of the tribunals, is 
free to live and act without hindrance. 

"Yet, though all this is true, it would be very 



76 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

erroneous to draw the conclusion that in America 
is to be sought the best desirable status of the 
Church, or that it would be universally lawful or 
expedient for State and Church to be, as in 
America, dissevered and divorced. The fact that 
Catholicity with you is in good condition, nay, 
as even enjoying a prosperous growth, is by all 
means to be attributed to the fecundity with which 
God has endowed His Church, in virtue of which, 
unless men or circumstances interfere, she spon- 
taneously expands and propagates herself, but 
she would bring forth more abundant fruits if, in 
addition to liberty, she enjoyed the favor of the 
laws and the patronage of the public authority." 

NO OATHS BINDING. 

The law demands that an alien who comes to 
this country, and seeks citizenship, must make an 
oath of allegiance to the United States govern- 
ment. The Revised Statutes of the United States 
say: "The alien seeking citizenship must make 
an oath to renounce forever all allegiance and 
:fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate. State or 
sovereignty, in particular that to which he has 
been subject. ' ' But Rome declares this oath is not 
binding if it is contrary to her claims. That 
Catholicism claims that oaths are not always 
binding can be proved from many sources. 



ROME AND CIVIL LIBERTY. TT 

The following is a portion of the Canon Law 
of Rome: "No oaths are to be kept if they are 
against the interests of the Church of Rome." 
(Corpus Jm'is Canonici, Leipsic edition, 1839, 
torn, ii., p. 1159). And, again: "Oaths which 
are against the Church of Rome are not to be 
called oaths, but perjuries." (Ibid, p. 358). 

Bishop English, Charleston, S. C, in explain- 
ing and defending these Canons, says: "These 
are the principles which I have been taught from 
Roman Catholic authors, by Roman Catholic 
professors; they are the principles which I find 
recognized in all enactments and interpretations 
of Councils in the Roman Catholic Church, irom 
the Council of Jerusalem, held by the apostles, 
down to the present day." (Letters Concerning 
the Roman Chancery, p. 158). 

Cardinal Manning put his imprimatur upon 
these words of the Rev. F. X. Schouppe: "The 
civil laws are binding on the conscience only so 
long as they are comformable to the rights of the 
Catholic Church." 

The Roman Catholic Profession of Faith ap- 
proved by the Council which met in Baltimore in 
1884, contains the following oath of allegiance 
to the pope: "And I pledge and swear true 
obedience to the Roman Pontiff, vicar of Jesus 
Christ, the successor of the blessed Peter, prince 



78 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

of the apostles." (Acta et Decreta Concilii, 
Baltimorensis III., p. liii., Baltimore, 1886). 

Liguori, the great Roman Catholic authority, 
in his treatise on oaths (Question 4), asks if it is 
allowable to use ambiguity, or equivocal words, 
to deceive, etc., and answers in these words, as 
translated from the Latin: "It is certain, and 
the opinion of all theologians, that for good rea- 
sons one may be permitted to use equivocations 
and to maintain them by oath; and, by 'good 
reasons,' we mean all that can do any good to 
the body or the soul." 

Sanchez, a very renowned author, in his work 
on "Morality and Precepts of the Decalogue" 
(Op. Moral. Precept. Decal., part 2, book 3, 
■chap. 6, No. 13), thus decides: "It is lawful to 
use ambiguous terms to give the impression a 
different sense from that which you understood 
yourself. A person may take an oath that he has 
not done such a thing, though in fact he has, by 
saying to himself, it was not done on a specified 
day, or before he was born, or by concealing any 
other similar circumstance, which gives another 
meaning to it. This is extremely convenient, 
and is always very just, when necessary to your 
health, honor or prosperity." "A man who 
makes, whether sincerely or in dissimulation, a 
contract of marriage, is dispensed by any motive 



ROME AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 79 

from accomplishing bis purpose. " And again, on 
page 30: "So often as it is lawful in our own 
defense to use equivocations, they may be used; 
though he who examines us do press us to answer 
him without making use of this very equivoca- 
tion." 

St. Thomas Aquinas says: "As for an oath 
made for a good and legitimate object, it seems 
that there should be no power capable of annul- 
ling it. However, when it is for the good of the 
public, a matter which comes under the imme- 
diate jurisdiction of the pope, who has the su- 
preme power over the Church, the pope has the 
full power to release from that oath." (St. 
Thomas, Quest. 89, Art. 9, Yol. lY). 

The Council of Constance, held in 1414, de- 
clared that "any person who has promised security 
to heretics shall not be obliged to keep his prom- 
ise, by whatever he may be engaged." 

It is in consequence of that principle that no 
faith must be kept with heretics; that John Huss 
was publicly burned on the scaffold, the 6th of 
July, 1415, in the city of Constance, though he 
had a safe passport from the emperor. 

Dens, another high authority in the Church of 
Rome, says: "It has undoubtedly become the 
settled law of the Roman Church that the pope 
may dispense with any promissory oath, by with- 



80 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

drawing the promise or prohibiting its perform- 
ance." (Papacy and Civil Power, note to page 
560). 

The Lateran Council — infallible, like the pope 
— has said: "They are not to be called oaths, 
but rather perjury, which are in opposition to the 
welfare of the Church and the enactment of the 
Holy Fathers." 

POLITICS. 

4. The Catholics in this country are exhorted 
by their leaders to take an active part in politics, 
and their undoubted aim is to make this a Cath- 
olic country. My contention is not that Catholics 
worship God according to the dictates of their 
own consciences; I am glad that our Constitution 
and laws accord this privilege to every man. But 
my complaint is that they constantly thrust their 
religion into politics. They are scheming to con- 
trol the destinies of this country in the interest 
of the Catholic Church. I think a man should 
be elected to office because he is competent and 
honest; Rome thinks he should be elected to office 
because he is a Catholic and can subserve the in- 
terests of that corrupt church. 

That Catholics, as Catholics, take part in elec- 
tions, can be proved by almost every municipal. 
State and national election which takes place in this 



ROME AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 81 

Nation. This is so patent that further proof is 
not required; but, as I have Catholic testimony 
at hand, I will submit some of it. 

In an encyclical letter of November 7, 188 5^ 
Leo XIII. , as reported by cable to the New York 
Herold^ said: "We exhort all Catholics to devote 
careful attention to public matters, and take part 
in all municipal affairs and elections, and all pub- 
lic services, meetings and gatherings. All Cath- 
olics must make themselves felt as active elements 
in daily political life in countries where they live. 
All Catholics should exert their power to cause 
the constitutions of States to be modeled on the 
principles of the true Church." "If the Cath- 
olics are idle," says the same pope, "the reins 
of power will easily be gained by persons whose 
opinions can surely afford little prospect of wel- 
fare. Hence Catholics have just reasons to enter 
into political life; . . . having in mind the 
purpose of introducing the wholesome life blood 
of Catholic wisdom and virtue into the whole 
system of the State. All Catholics who are 
worthy of the name must . . . work to the 
end that every State be made comformable to the 
Christiaa model we have described." (Muller, in 
Roman Catholic Catechism, No. lY., pp. 250' 
to 252). 

Dr. BrownsQn declares: "Undoubtedly it is 



82 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

the intention of the pope to possess this country. 
In this intention he is aided by the Jesuits and all 
the Catholic prelates and priests." {^Catholic 
Review^ July, 1864). 

Father Hecker, in his last work, 1887, says: 
"The Catholics will out number, before the close 
of this century, all other believers in Christianity 
put together in this republic." 

The St. Louis Globe says: "It is the duty of 
every Catholic to vote for the Catholic candidate 
— Catholics must use the ballot to promote the 
cause of the Church." 

The Catholic World of New York says: "The 
Catholic Church numbers one-third of the popu- 
lation, and if its membership shall increase for 
the next thirty years as it has in the thirty years 
past, in 1900 Rome will have a majority and pos- 
sess this country and keep it. There is ere long" 
to be a State religion in this country and that 
religion is to be Roman Catholic. The Roman 
Catholic is to wield his vote for the purpose of 
securing Catholic ascendency in this country." 

In reply to McGee, editor of Freeman^s Jour- 
■nal^ the bishops and priests said: "We are de- 
termined, like you, to take possession of the 
United States and rule them. Let us then mul- 
tiply our votes; let us call our poor but faithful 
Irish Cathoilics from every corner of the world 



ROME AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 83 

and gather tliem unto the very hearts of those 
proud citadels which the Yankees are so rapidly 
building up." 

That the Koman Catholics are in politics is 
patent to every one who visits Washington. 
Rome is strongly intrenched in our capital city. 
I give a portion of a very interesting letter from 
Dr. Scott F. Hershey. He speaks with the au- 
thority of one who knows. He says: "The 
custom of nuns going, at regular intervals, 
through the departments and coercing money 
from the clerks is an infamous political iniquity. 
In the Pension Bureau this semi-monthly visita- 
tion is an arrant outrage. The Commissioner, 
First Assistant and the Chairman of the House 
Committee on Pensions are Roman Catholics, and 
the whole management of the Bureau is under 
direction of these three. The Roman Church 
worked to accomplish this. Such combinations 
are not accidental. A friend of mine a little 
while ago stood quietly by and witnessed the 
semi-monthly pay of the clerks. The procession 
of clerks, after receiving their pay, had to pass 
between two nuns, each holding a box, and nearly 
all paid the price necessary to keep them in office. 
It took two hours and a half for the more than 
two thousand clerks to pass these agents of the 
priesthood and pay over their money. And this 



84 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

in a great government building! Are we free, or 
are we the slaves of a lustful, mediaeval ecclesiasti- 
cal institution? Upon demands which were made, 
one of the Cabinet has stopped this collection of 
a tax levied on government clerks by the Roman 
Church. It made him mad, and he said all sorts of 
ugly things, but he knew the evil he had counten- 
anced was an outrage and he issued the order. 
This demand should be made upon every depart- 
ment. 

"In a certain room in the printing office are 
eleven clerks at one table, and eight of them are 
Catholics. In this Bureau tickets for Catholic 
fairs are sold from once to twice a week during 
government hours. The Roman Catholics are 
compelled to buy, and say they would lose their 
places if they did not. In a room in one of the 
departments six clerks were reduced in one day. 
Strange to relate they were all six members of 
the same Protestant church. Six others were 
promoted to take their places, and five of them 
were Roman Catholics. One day last fall twenty- 
one promotions were made in the Bureau of En- 
graving, and nineteen were Roman Catholics. 
Such things do not occur by any rule of mere ac- 
cident. I could continue such citations over 
many pages. During the last fifteen years over 
a quarter of a million dollars have been appro- 



ROME AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 85 

priated by Congress to one of the Roman Cath- 
olic institutions in this city." 

TKAITOES. 

5. Roman Catholics have been traitors to the 
United States government. This was true in the 
Mexican war. Col. Edwin Sherman gives this 
account: "During the Mexican war there was 
circulated among our army propositions to those 
who were Roman Catholic soldiers to desert. 
Those who belonged to the infantry, the cavalry, 
the artillery, were to receive payment in lands 
and money and everything else accordingly. One 
man by the name of Riley deserted before hos- 
tilities broke out, and others followed him. 
Then, after the battle of Monterey, and after fif- 
teen thousand men under an armistice were 
allowed to pass out, carrying their arms with 
them,, fifty of those Roman Catholic deserters led 
the Mexican army out. It was with great diffi- 
culty that our men could be prevented from shoot- 
ing them, but the armistice had to be kept. 
"When our division was called from Monterey, 
and Taylor's line on the Rio Grande, to go to the 
south from Yera Cruz to the City of Mexico, we 
found ourselves confronted by deserters from our 
own ranks — a complete battalion, known as the 
Legion of San Patricio (St. Patrick) composed of 



86 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

deserters from our army — and Riley, a Brigadier 
General, commanding them. 

"At that time the United States was appealed 
to and they moved the batteries from their ships 
of war and filled them with provisions for starv- 
ing Ireland; and at this time, these men, deluded 
by priests of their faith to violate their oaths, un- 
gratefully, in our own clothing and with our 
arms — at the battle of Cherubusco, near the City 
of Mexico — turned upon their former comrades 
and laid them low. It was impossible to esti- 
mate the feeling of our men. At one time 
muskets were thrown aside, and simply with the 
bayonet alone in hand, we met the enemy and 
captured over sixty of these deserters. There 
came an armistice, and during that armistice they 
were duly tried by court-martial, and, at Miscoac, 
in the presence of both armies, we hung thirty- 
two in good order." 

The Roman Catholic authorities played traitor 
to the government of the United States during 
the civil war; and, if it should prove to their in- 
terests, they will do it again. I adopt the words 
of the Rev. I. J. Lansing, a reliable authority. 
He says: "It is a matter of record in the War 
and other departments at Washington that only 9 
per cent, of the Irish ever enlisted in the Union 
army and that soon after the letter of Pope Pius 



ROME AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 87 

IX., dated at Rome, December 3, 1863, and ad- 
dressed to Jefferson Davis, as 'Illustrious and 
Honorable President,' was promulgated, more 
than 71 per cent, of them, or 102,839 out of a 
total of 144,221, deserted. And 'it is known 
that when Gen. Meade, a Roman Catholic, was 
to order the pursuit of Lee, after the battle of 
Gettysburg, a stranger came in haste to Meade's 
headquarters, and that stranger (said Mr. Lin- 
coln) was a distinguished Jesuit. After ten 
minutes' conversation with that stranger, Meade 
made such arrangements for the pursuit of the 
enemy that he escaped almost untouched, with 
the loss of only two guns.' " (See "Washington 
in the Lap of Rome," p. 125). 

The following official figures are clipped from 
the Toledo American: 

WHO DID THE DESERTING? 

In reply to the boast so freely made by Roman 
Catholic editors and orators that the Irish fought 
the battles of the civil war and saved the nation, 
the following document, received from the Pen- 
sion Department at Washington, is here given: 

Whole number of troops engaged in the war. . . . 2,128,200 

Natives of the United States 1,625,267 

Germans. . . .* 180,817 

Irishmen 144,221 

British (other than Irish) 90,040 

Other foreigners 87,855 



88 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

The desertions were as follows: 

Natives of the United States 5 per cent. 

Germans 10 per cent. 

Irish Catholics 72 per cent. 

British (other than Irish) 7 per cent. 

Other foreigners 7 per cent. 

"In other words, of the 144,000 Irishmen that 
enlisted, 104,000 deserted; and it is reliably 
stated that most of these desertions occurred after 
the recognition of the Confederacy by the pope. 
It is also a fact that, of the 5 per cent, of native 
Americans rated as deserters, 45 per cent, of the 
5 per cent, were Roman Catholics." 

President Lincoln sent Archbishop Hughes to 
Rome as his trusted agent and the Archbishop ac- 
cepted the trust and then betrayed him. "I 
have," said President Lincoln, "the proof that 
Archbishop Hughes, whom I had sent to Rome 
that he might induce the pope to urge the Roman 
Catholics of the North, at least to be true to their 
oaths of allegiance, and whom I thanked publicly 
when under the impression that he had acted 
honestly according to the promise he had given 
me, is the very man who advised the pope to rec- 
ognize the legitimacy of the Southern Confederacy, 
and put the weight of his tiara in the balance 
against us and in favor of our enemies. Such is 
the perfidy of Jesuits. " And it is a significant fact 
that every man connected with the assassination 
of Abraham Lincoln was a Roman Catholic. 



ROME AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 



89 







ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 



90 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

In marked contrast to the opinion and experi- 
ence of Mr. Lincoln is the position of Mr. Cleve- 
land. He has upon every occasion yielded to the 
wishes of Rome and appointed her men to high 
positions. One of the greatest ojffenses of that 
official is an official letter he wrote to the pope. 
The fathers of this republic did no such thing. 
Mr. Cleveland's letter reads as follows: 

"Rome, August 12. — The pope has received the 
following letter from Cardinal Gibbons: 

"Executive Mansion, Washington, D. C, June 
9, 1893. — To His Eminence^ Cardinal Gihhons — 
Your Eminence: Please permit me to transmit 
through you to his Holiness, Leo XIII. , my sin- 
cere congratulation on the golden jubilee of his. 
episcopate. The pleasure attending this expres- 
sion of my felicitations is much enhanced by the 
remembrance that his Holiness has always mani- 
fested a lively interest in the prosperity of the 
United States and great admiration of our politi- 
cal institutions. I am glad to believe that these 
sentiments are the natural outgrowth of the Holy 
Father's solicitude for the welfare and happiness 
of the masses of humanity and his special sym- 
pathy for every effort made to dignify simple 
manhood and to promote the moral and social 
elevation of those who toil. The kindness with 
which his Holiness lately accepted a copy of the 



ROME AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 91 

Constitution of the United States leads me to 
suggest that, if it does not seem presumptuous, it 
would please me exceedingly to place in his hand& 
a book containing the official papers and docu- 
ments written by me during my previous term in 
oflSce. Yours very sincerely, 

"Geovee Cleveland. 

6. The oaths of the priesthood, and of the 
Catholic societies, will show that they are not true 
Americans. I give these oaths in full, for they 
are of the utmost importance: 

PEIEST'S OATH. 

"I , now in the presence of Almighty 



God, the blessed Yirgin Mary, the blessed 
Michael the Archangel, the blessed St. John the 
Baptist, the Holy Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, 
and the Saints and Sacred Host of Heaven, and 
to you, my Lord, I do declare from my heart, 
without mental reservation that the Pope is 
Christ's Yicar General, and is the true and only 
head of the Universal Church throughout the 
earth, and that, by virtue of the keys of binding 
and loosing given to his Holiness by Jesus Christ 
he has power to depose heretical Kings, Princes, 
States, Commonwealths and Governments, all 
being illegal without his sacred confirmation, 
and that they may be safely destroyed. There- 



•92 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

fore, to the utmost of my power, I will defend 
this doctrine and his Holiness' rights and cus- 
toms against all usurpers of the Protestant au- 
thority whatsoever, especially against the now 
pretended authority and church in England and 
all adherents, in regard that they be usurped and 
heretical, opposing the Sacred Mother, the 
Church of Rome. 

"I do denounce and disown any allegiance as 
due to any Protestant King, Prince or State, or 
obedience to any of their inferior officers. I do 
further declare the doctrine of the Church of 
England, of the Calvinists, Huguenots and other 
Protestants, to be damnable, and those to be 
damned who will not forsake the same, 

"1 do further declare that I will help, assist 
and advise all or any of his Holiness' agents in 
any place wherever I shall be, and to do my ut- 
most to extirpate the Protestant doctrine and to 
destroy all their pretended power regal or other- 
wise. I do further promise and declare that not- 
withstanding I may be permitted by dispensation 
to assume any heretical religion (Protestant de- 
nominations) for the propagation of the Mother 
Church's interest, to keep secret and private all 
her agents' counsels as they entrust me, and not 
to divulge, directly or indirectly, by word, writing 
or circumstance whatsoever, but to execute all 



ROME AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 95 

wliich shall be proposed, given in charge or dis- 
covered unto me by you, my most Reverend Lord 
and Bishop. 

''All of which I, , swear by the 

blessed Trinity and blessed Sacrament which I 
am about to perform on my part to keep inviola- 
bly, and do call on all the Heavenly and Glorious 
Hosts of Heaven to witness my real intentions 
to keep this my oath. 

"In testimony whereof, I take this most holy 
and blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist, and wit- 
ness the same further with my consecrated hand, 
and in the presence of my holy bishop and all 
the priests who assist him in my ordination to 
the priesthood." 

THE bishop's oath. 

"I, , elect to the diocese, from 

henceforward will be faithful and obedient to St. 
Peter and the Apostles and to the holy Roman 
Church and to our lord, the holy Pope at Rome 
and to his successors, canonically entering. I. 
will neither advise, consent nor do anything that 
they may lose life or member, or that their per- 
sons may be seized, or hands in any wise be laid 
upon them, or any injuries offered them under 
any pretense whatsoever. The counsel with which 
they shall intrust me by themselves, their mes- 



94 " AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

sages or letter, I will not knowingly reveal to 
any to their prejudice. I will help them to de- 
fend and keep the Koman papacy, and the royal- 
ists of St. Peter against all men. The legate of 
the Apostolic See, going and coming, I will hon- 
orably treat and help in his necessities. The 
rights, honors, privileges and authority of the 
holy Roman Church, of our lord the Pope and 
his aforesaid successors, I will endeavor to pre- 
serve, defend, increase and advance. I will not 
be in any council, action or treaty, in which shall 
he plotted against our lord and Roman Church, 
anything to the hurt or prejudice of their per- 
sons, rights, honor, state or power, and, if I shall 
know any such thing to be treated or agitated by 
any whatsoever, I will hinder it to my utmost, 
^and as soon as I can, I will signify it to our said 
lord. The ordinance and mandates of the pope, 
I will observe with all my might and cause to be 
observed by others. 

"Heretics, schismatics and rebels to our said 
lord or his successors, I will to my utmost perse- 
cute and oppose. 

"Hereticos, schismaticos et rebelles eldem 
Domino nostro vel successoribus predictis pro- 
porpos persequar et oppugnabo. 

"I will come to a council when I am called, 
visit the threshold of the apostles every three 



ROME AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 95 

years and give an account to our lord of all my 
pastoral office and of all things belonging to my 
diocese to the discipline of my clergy and people. 
I will in like manner humbly receive and dili- 
gently execute the apostolic commands. If I am 
detained by a lawful impediment, I will perform 
the aforesaid by a member of my chapter or a 
priest of my diocese, fully instructed in all things 
above mentioned. The possessions belonging to 
my table, I will neither sell nor otherwise alienate 
without consulting the Roman Pontiff. So help 
me God and these holy gospels of God." 
Signature. 

THE OATH OF A CARDINAL. 

"I, , cardinal of the holy Roman 

Church, do promise and swear that from this time 
to the end of my life I will be faithful and obedi- 
ent *unto St. Peter, the holy apostolic Roman 
Church and our most holy lord, the Pope of Rome, 
and his successors canonically and lawfully 
elected; that I will give no advice, consent nor 
assistance against the pontifical majesty and per- 
son; that I will never, knowingly and advisedly, 
to their injury or disgrace, make public the coun- 
sels entrusted to me by themselves or by their 
messengers or letters; also that I will give them 
any assistance in retaining, defending and recov- 



96 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

ering the Roman papacy and the regalia of Peter 
with all my might and endeavor, so far as the 
rights and privileges of my order will allow 
it, and will defend all their honor and State, 
and will defend with due form and honor the 
legates and nuncios . of the Apostolic See in the 
territories, churches, monasteries and other benef- 
icent institutions committed to my keeping, and 
I will cordially cooperate with them and aid 
them in their coming, abiding and returning, and 
that I will resist unto blood all persons ^li^tso- 
ever who shall attempt anything against them. 
That I will by every way and by every means 
strive to preserve, augment and advance the 
rights, honors, privileges and authority of the 
holy Roman bishop, our lord, the pope, and his 
before mentioned successors, and that at what- 
ever time anything shall be decided to their preju- 
dice which is out of my power to hinder, as soon 
as I shall know that any steps or measures have 
been taken in the matter, I will make it known 
unto our lord, or to some other person by whose 
means it may be brought to his knowledge. That 
I will help and carry out, and cause others to 
help and carry out, the rules of the holy father, 
the decrees, ordinances, dispensations, reserva- 
tions, provisions, apostolic mandates and con- 
stitutions of the holy father, Sixtus, of happy 



ROME AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 97 

memory, as to visiting the thresholds of the 
apostles at certain prescribed times according to 
the tenor of that which I have just read through. 
That I will seek out and oppose, persecute and 
fight against heretics, schismatics and all others 
who oppose our lord, the Pope of Rome; and 
this I will do with every possible effort. 
This is signed and sent to the pope. 



?5 



THE Jesuits' oath. 



"I, , now, in the presence of Al- 
mighty God, the blessed Yirgin Mary, the blessed 
Michael the Archangel, the blessed St. John the 
Baptist, the Holy Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, 
and the Saints and Sacred Hosts of Heaven, and 
to you my ghostly father, the Superior General of 
the Society of Jesus, founded by St. Ignatius 
Loyola, in the pontificate of Paul III., and con- 
tinued to the present, do, by the womb of the 
Yirgin, the matrix of God, and the rod of Jesus; 
Christ, declare and swear that His Holiness, the 
pope, is Christ's vicegerent, and is the true and 
the only head of the Catholic or Universal Church 
throughout the earth; and that by virtue of the 
binding and loosing given to his Holiness by my 
Saviour, Jesus Christ, he hath power to depose 
heretical Kings, Princes, States, Commonwealths 
and Governments, all being illegal without his 



98 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

sacred confirmation, and they may safely be de- 
stroyed. Therefore, to the utmost of my power 
I will defend this doctrine and his Holiness' right 
and custom against ah usurpers of the heretical 
or Protestant authority whatsoever, especially the 
Lutheran Church of Germany, Holland, Den- 
mark, Sweden and Norway, and the now pre- 
tended authorities and churches of England and 
Scotland, and branches of the same now estab- 
lished in Ireland, and on the continent of America 
and elsewhere, and all adherents in regard that 
they be usurped and heretical, opposing the 
Sacred Mother Church of Rome. 

"I do now renounce and disown any allegiance 
as due to any heretical King, Prince or State, 
named Protestant or Liberal, or obedience to any 
of their laws or magistrates or officers. 

"I do further declare that the doctrine of the 
churches of England and Scotland, and of Cal- 
vinists. Huguenots, and others of the name of 
Protestant or Liberal, to be damnable, and they 
themselves to be damned who will not forsake 
the same. 

"I do further declare that I will help, assist 
and advise all or any of his Holiness' agents, in 
any place wherever I shall be, in Switzerland, 
Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, 
England, Ireland or America, or in any other 



ROME AND CIVIL LIBERTY. &9 

kingdom or territory I shall come to, and do my 
utmost to extirpate the heretical Protestant or 
Liberal doctrines, and to destroy all their pre- 
tended powers, regal or otherwise. 

"I do further promise and declare that, not- 
withstanding I am dispensed with to assume any 
religion heretical for the propagation of the Mother 
Church's interest to keep secret and private all 
her agents' councils from time to time, as they 
intrust me, and not divulge, directly or indirectly, 
by word, writing or circumstances, whatever, but 
to execute all that shall be proposed, given in 
charge, or discovered unto me, by you my ghostly 
father, or any of this sacred covenant. 

"I do further promise and declare that I will 
have no opinion or will of my own, or any mental 
reservation whatsoever, even as a corpse or ca- 
daver (perinde ae cadaver), but will unhesitatingly 
obey each and every command that I may receive 
from my superiors in the militia of the pope and 
of Jesus Christ. 

"That I will go to any part of the world 
whithersoever I may be sent, to the frozen regions 
of the North, the burning sands of the desert of 
Africa, or the jungles of India, to the centers of 
civilization of Europe, or to the wild haunts of 
the barbarous savages of America, without mur- 
muring or repining; and will be submissive in all 
things whatsoever communicated to me. 



100 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

"I do furthermore promise and declare that I 
will, when opportunity presents, make and wage 
relentless war, secretly or openly, against all her- 
etics, Protestants and Liberals, as I am directed 
to do, to extirpate them from the face of the whole 
earth; and that I will spare neither age, sex nor 
condition, and that I will hang, burn, waste, boil, 
flay, strangle and bury alive these infamous her- 
etics; rip up the stomachs and wombs of their 
women, and crush their infants' heads against the 
walls, in order to annihilate their execrable race. 
That when the same can not be done openly, I 
will secretly use the poisonous cup, the strangu- 
lating cord, the steel of the poniard, or the leaden 
bullets, regardless of the honor, rank, dignity or 
authority of the person or persons, whatever 
may be their condition in life, either public or 
private, as I at any time may be directed so to do, 
by any agent of the pope, or superior of the 
brotherhood of the Holy Father of the Society of 
Jesus. 

"In confirmation of which I hereby dedicate 
my life, my soul, and all corporeal powers, and 
with this dagger which I now receive, I will sub- 
scribe my name, written in my blood, in testi- 
mony thereof; and should I prove false or weaken 
in my determination may my brethren and fellow- 
soldiers of the militia of the pope cut off my 



ROME AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 101 

hands and my feet, and my throat from ear to 
ear, my belly open and sulphur burn therein, 
with all the punishment that can be inflicted upon 
me on earth, and my soul be tortured by demons 
in an eternal hell forever. 

*'A11 of which I, , do swear by the 

blessed Trinity, and blessed jSacrament which I 
am now to receive, to perform, and on my part 
to keep inviolable; and do call all the Heavenly 
and Glorious Host of Heaven to witness my real 
intentions to keep this my oath. 

"In testimony hereof, I take this most holy and 
blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist, and witness 
the same further, with my name written with the 
point of this dagger, dipped in my own blood, 
and seal in the face of this holy covenant. ' ' 

[He receives the wafer from the superior, and 
writes his name with the point of the dagger, 
dipped in his own blood, taken from over the 
heart.] 

OATH OF THE CLAN-NA-GAEL. 

The following is the oath taken by the members 
of that famous Romish Catholic Society: 

"I, , do solemnly swear in the pres- 
ence of Almighty God, that I will labor while 
life is left in me to establish and defend a repub- 
lican form of government in Ireland; that I will 



102 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

keep secret the names and everything connected 
with this Irish brotherhood from all not entitled 
to know such secrets; that I will obey and com- 
ply with the constitution and laws of the same, 
whatever they may be; that I will preserve the 
funds of the order for the cause of Irish revolu- 
tion alone, as specified in the constitution; that I 
will deem it my special duty and mission to pro- 
mote and foster sentiments of union, brotherly 
love, nationality, among all Irish Catholics; that 
I will not permit the nomination in any political 
caucus or convention of a person not pledged to 
the principles of this society; that I will always 
give a member of this brotherhood preference in 
all matters of business, and will vote and work 
only for Irishmen for political oflSce; I take this 
obligation without any mental reservation, hold- 
ing the same forever binding upon me, and that 
any violation thereof or desertion of my duty to 
the brotherhood is infamous, and merits the 
severest punishment, so help me God." 

This oath the candidate is abjured to keep at 
the hazard of his life. It was reported to and 
printed in the Chicago Inter- Ocean^ December 16, 
1893, and was sworn to be correct at the Cronin 
trial. Priests and bishops act as chaplains for 
this holy order. 



ROME AND CIVIL LIBERTY. 103 

OATH OF A RIBBON MAN. 

''I, Patrick McKenna, swear by Saints Peter 
and Paul, and by the blessed Yirgin Mary, to be 
always faithful to the society of Ribbon Men, to 
keep and conceal all its secrets and all its words 
of order; to be always ready to execute the com- 
mands of my superior officers, and, as far as it 
shall be in my power, to extirpate all heretics, 
and all the Protestants and to walk in their blood 
to the knee. May the Yirgin Mary and all saints 
help me. To-day the second of July, 1852. 

"Pat McKenna, 

(from Tyndavanet). " 

(Cited in ^'Brooks' Controversy with Bishop 
Hughes," p. 15). 

OATH OF THE KNIGHTS OF ST. JOHN. 

"I, , in the presence of the members 

of this Commandery as witnesses, do solemnly 
pledge my sacred word of honor, as a truthful 
and honest man, that I will conform to all the 
rules and regulations of the constitution of this 
Commandery; that I am not, and will not, while 
a member of this Commandery, belong to any 
secret organization condemned by the Catholic 
Church; that I will not divulge or make known 
any of the business of this Commandery to any 
one not entitled to know the same; that I will 



104 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

always act in unity and harmony with the officers 
and members of this Commandery in furthering 
the objects for which it was established, as laid 
down in the preamble; that I will afford timely 
aid to the extent of my ability to all my brother 
knights when in distress; that I will cultivate for 
each and every one a warm and fraternal feeling, 
defending their reputation and doing everything 
in my power to promote their welfare and useful- 
ness; and, furthermore, should I ever be expelled 
or resign or have cause to leave this Commandery, 
1 shall always consider this obligation binding 
out of it as well as in it, except in the confes- 
sional. 

"Mr. , after reading the preamble 

and taking the obligation and knowing what is 
required of you as a member of this*Commandery, 
are you willing to be obligated? Answer yes or no. 

"Now, in conclusion, I will instruct you in the 
sign, by extending to you the right hand of fel- 
lowship, and may you never cause this Com- 
mandery to regret the confidence they have placed 
in you." 



ROME AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 105 



CHAPTER lY. 

THE ATTITUDE OF ROME TOWARD RELIGIOUS 

LIBERTY. 

WE claim as one of our dearest rights the 
privilege to worship God according to 
the dictates of conscience. This the Constitution 
of the United States guarantees. The First 
Amendment to the Constitution says: "Congress 
shall make no law respecting the establishment of 
religion or the prohibiting the free exercise 
thereof. ' ' Catholics seek to take away from us 

this constitutional right. 
We have no religious rights 
that a Koman Catholic is 
bound to respect. I point 
out the hostile attitude of 
Rome toward religious lib- 
erty. 1. Rome claims that 
a man has no right to a choice in religious mat- 
ters. He is not permitted to think or have an 
opinion contrary to Rome. Ignatius Loyola puts 
this in the strongest words possible. He says: 
"As for holy obedience, this virtue must be per- 
fect in every point — in execution, in will, in Intel- 




106 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

lect, doing which is enjoined with all celerity, 
spiritual joy and perseverance; persuading our- 
selves that everything is just, suppressing every 
repugnant tliought and judgment of one's own in 
a certain obedience; and let every one persuade 
himself, that he who lives under obedience should 
be moved and directed under Divine Providence, 
by his superior, just as if he were a corpse (per- 
inde acsi cadaver esset), which allows itself to be 
moved and led in every direction." (Constitu- 
tion of Jesuits, part Yl., c. i., sec. 1). 

Pius IX. declared it to be an error that, "Every 
man is free to embrace and profess the religion he 
shall believe true, guided by the light of reason." 
(Syllabus of Errors, December 8, 1864, Propo- 
sition 15, Maxima quidem, June 9, 1862). 
. The RanMer says: "Religious liberty, in the 
sense of a liberty possessed by every man to 
choose his own religion, is one of the most wicked 
delusions ever foisted upon this age by the father 
of all deceit." 

FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. 

2. The Roman Catholic Church further declares 
that freedom of worship, as guaranteed by our 
Constitution, is a heresy and totally false. 

Pope Pius IX., in his encyclical, December 8, 
1864, says: "Contrary to the teachings of the 



ROME AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. lOT 

holy Scriptures, of the Church, and of the Holy 
Fathers, these persons do not hesitate to assert 
that 'the best condition of human society is that 
wherein no duty is recognized by the government 
of correcting by enacted penalties the violators of 
the Catholic religion, except when the mainte- 
nance of the public peace requires it. ' From this 
totally false notion of social government, they 
fear not to uphold that erroneous opinion most 
pernicious to the Catholic Church, and to the sal- 
vation of souls, which was called by our prede- 
cessor, Gregory XYI., the insanity, namely, that 
'liberty of conscience and of worship is the right 
of every man; and that this right ought, in every 
well governed State, to be proclaimed and as- 
serted by the law,' " 

Archbishop Ryan, in a recent sermon in Phila- 
delphia, said: "The Church tolerates heretics 
where she is obliged to do so, but she hates them 
with a deadly hatred, and uses all her power to 
annihilate them. Our enemies know how she 
treated heretics in the middle ages, and how she 
treats them to-day where she has the power. We 
no more think of denying these historic facts 
than we do of blaming the Holy God and the 
princes of the Church for what they have thought 
fit to do." 

Bishop O'Connor, of Pittsburgh, said, "Re- 



108 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

ligious liberty is merely endured until the opposite 
can be carried into effect without peril to the 
Catholic world." 

Father Hecker said: "The day will come when 
Homan Catholics will take this country and build 
their institutions over the grave of Protestantism, 
and then religious liberty is at an end." 

Lord Robert Montagu says: "Thus it is that 
Catholics, in' some countries, ask for liberty of 
education, liberty of worship, liberty of speech, 
liberty of the press, and so forth; not because 
these are good things, but because, in those coun- 
tries, the compulsory education, the law for con- 
formity of worship, the press law, etc., enforce 
that which is far worse. In the Egyptian dark- 
ness of error, it is good to obtain a little strug- 
gling ray of light. It is better to be on a Cunard 
steamer than on a raft, but if the steamer was go- 
ing down the raft would be preferable. So it is 
relatively good, in a pagan or heretic country, to 
obtain liberty of worship, or religious liberty; 
but that choice no more proves that it is abso- 
lutely good and should be granted in Catholic 
countries also, than your getting on a raft in mid- 
ocean proves that every one, in all cases, should 
do so. Still less does it follow that, because lib- 
erty of worship is demanded in Protestant coun- 
tries, therefore it should be granted in Catholic 



ROME AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 109' 

countries. To deny religious liberty would be 
contradictory of the principles of Protestantism, 
which is the right of private judgment. But the 
principle of Catholicism is repugnant to the lib- 
erty of worship; for the principle of Catholicism 
is that God has appointed an infallible teacher of 
faith and morals." (Popular Errors Concerning 
Politics and Heligion, p. 318). 

These principles of Rome have been put into 
execution. "When, in May, 1851, New Grenada 
proclaimed religious toleration and subjected the 
clergy to the secular courts, Pius IX., in the allo- 
cution 'Acerbissimum, ' of September 27, 1852, 
pronounced the laws to be null and void, and 
threatened heavy ecclesiastical penalties on all 
who should dare to enforce them. . . . When, 
in 1855, Mexico adopted a constitution embody- 
ing the same principles, Pius, in the allocution 
'Nunquam fore,' December 15, 1856, annulled the 
constitution and forbade obedience to it. When, 
about the same time, Spain made an effort in the 
same direction, the allocution 'Nemo Yestrum, ' 
of July 24, 1855, similarly abrogated the obnox- 
ious provisions. Even a powerful empire like 
that of Austria fared no better when, in Decem- 
ber, 1867, it decreed liberty of conscience and of 
the press, and in May, 1868, adopted a law of 
civil marriage; for the allocution ' Nunquam 



110. AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

certe,' of June 22, 1868, denounced all of these as 
atrocious laws, and declared them to be void and 
of no effect." (Henry Charles Lea, Forum^ Feb- 
ruary, 1890, pp. 630, 631). 

PROTESTANTS HAVE NO EIGHTS. 

3. Rome not only claims that Protestants have 
no rights, but that they are not to be tolerated; 
and if proper opportunity affords they are to be 
persecuted. This is taught by popes, councils 
and writers of the best class. 

The Fourth Council of Lateran, held at Rome, 
A. D. 1215, under Pope Innocent III., has a 
famous law concerning heretics. At the risk of 
repeating a paragraph or two, quoted elsewhere, 
I shall give the decree in full. It was decreed: 
"We excommunicate and anathematize every 
lieresy that exalts itself against the holy orthodox, 
and Catholic faith, which we have already set 
forth, condemning all heretics, by whatsoever 
name they may be called, for, though their 
faces differ, they are tied together by their tails, 
agreeing in their vanity. 

"Such as are condemned are to be delivered 
over to the existing secular powers, or their offi- 
cers, to receive due punishment. If laymen, their 
effects shall be confiscated. If priests, they shall 
first be degraded from their respective orders and 



ROME AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. Ill 

tlieir property applied to tlie churches in which 
they have oflSciated. 

"Those who have incurred a public suspicion 
of heresy shall be punished with an anathema 
and their company shunned by all men, unless 
they thoroughly clear themselves of the charge. 
If they remain under excommunication a year, 
they shall then be condemned as heretics, 

' 'Secular powers of all ranks and degrees are 
to be warned, induced, and, if necessary, com- 
pelled by ecclesiastical censures, as they desire to 
be accounted faithful, publicly to swear that they 
will exert themselves to the utmost in defense of 
the faith, and extirpate all heretics, denounced by 
the Church, who shall be found in their territories. 
And whenever any person shall assume govern- 
ment, whether it be spiritual or temporal, he shall 
be bound to swear to abide by this decree. 

"If any temporal lord, after having been ad- 
monished and required by the Church, shall neg- 
lect to clear his territory of heretical pravity, the 
metropolitan and the bishops of the province shall 
unite in excommunicating him. Should he remain 
contumacious a whole year, the fact shall be sig- 
nified to the Supreme Pontiff, who shall declare 
his vassals released from their allegiance from 
that time, and will bestow his territory on Cath- 
olics, to be occupied by them on the condition of 



112 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

exterminating heretics and preserving the said 
territory in the pure faith; and they shall possess 
it without molestation, saving the rights of the 
supreme lord, if he shall have put no obstacle or 
impediment in the way. The same course shall 
be taken with those who have no supreme lord. 

"Catholics who shall assume the cross for the 
extermination of heretics shall enjoy the same in- 
dulgences, and be protected in the same priv- 
ileges, as are granted to those who go to the helr> 
of the Holy Land. 

"We decree further, that all who have any 
dealings with heretics, and especially such as re- 
ceive, defend or encourage them, shall be excom- 
municated; expressly declaring that if any person, 
after the excommunication has *been published, 
shall fail to give satisfaction in a year, he shall be 
accounted infamous. He shall not be eligible to 
any public office or commission, nor to vote for 
the appointment of others to such offices. He 
shall not be admitted as a witness. He shall 
never have power to bequeath his property by will,^ 
nor to succeed to any inheritance. He shall not 
bring an action against any person, but any 
one may bring an action against him. Should 
he be a judge, his decisions shall have no 
force, nor shall any cause be brought before 
him. Should he be an advocate, he shall not 



ROME AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 113 

4 

be permitted to plead. Should he be a lawyer, 
na instruments made by him shall be held 
valid; but shall be condemned with their author. 
And, we decree, in like manner, for all similar 
cases. But should the offending party be a priest, 
he shall be deprived of every office and benefice 
he may hold, that, as his fault is greater, his 
punishment may be proportionate. 

"If any shall continue to have deal?ngs with 
such as are denounced by the Church, they shall 
be compelled, by the sentence of excommunica- 
tion, to give full satisfaction. Priests shall not 
administer to them the sacraments of the Church 
when they seek them, nor presume to give them 
Christian burial, nor accept their alms or offer- 
ings, on pain of being deprived of their offices, 
without the possibility of restoration, but by the 
special favor of the Holy See. Regulars, if they 
offend in this manner, shall lose whatever privi- 
leges they may have possessed in the diocese in 
which the offense shall be committed. 

"And, whereas, some 'having form of godli- 
ness, ' as the apostle saith, but 'denying the power 
thereof,' assume to themselves the authority to 
preach (notwithstanding that the same apostle 
saith, 'How shall they preach except they be sentf ), 
all persons whatsoever being prohibited so to do, 
are not commissioned, who shall presume to usurp 



114 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

authority to preach, publicly or privately, unless 
they have received such authority from the Apos- 
tolic See, or from the Catholic bishop of the 
place, shall be excommunicated; and unless they 
immediately repent, they shall be visited with 
condign punishment. 

"We enjoin, moreover, that every archbishop 
or bishop shall, either personally or by his arch- 
deacon, or by some other trustworthy person, 
twice in the year, or at least once, visit every 
parish in which heretics are commonly reported 
to live. He shall select three or more persons of 
good character, or he shall take, if he thinks fit, 
the whole neighborhood, and shall compel them 
to swear that if they know any heretic, or any 
persons holding secret conventicles, or whose life 
and manners differ from those of the faithful in 
general, they will denounce them to the bishop. 
The bishop shall summon the accused before him; 
and then, unless they clear themselves from the 
charge, or if it be proved that after having so 
cleared themselves on a preceding occasion, they 
liave relapsed into their former perfidy, they shall 
be punished according to the canons. If any per- 
;son, rejecting with damnable obstinacy the sol- 
'emn obligation of an oath, shall refuse to swear, 
he shall on that account be reputed a heretic. 

"We will command, therefore, and strictly 



ROxME AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 115 

charge all bishops, on their obedience, that they 
diligently watch over this matter in their respec- 
tive dioceses. For, if any bishop shall be negli- 
gent or remiss in purging his diocese of heretical 
pravity, and the fact be sufficiently proved, he 
shall be deposed from his office and some fit per- 
son shall be substituted for him, who shall be able 
and willing to destroy heresy." (Labb. Concil., 
Ed. MansL, tom. xxii. p. 987-990). 

This infamous decree stands unrepealed, and is 
therefore the law of the Catholic Church to-day. 

The Catechism of the Council of Trent holds: 
'^Heretics and schismatics, because they have 
separated from the Church and belong to her only 
as deserters, belong to the army from which they 
deserted. It is not, however, to be denied that 
they are still subject to the jurisdiction of the 
Church, as those liable to have her ]udgment 
passed on them, to be punished by her, and de- 
nounced with anathema." 

One of the most notorious documents ever pub- 
lished by the popes is the bull ' 'In Coena Domini. ' ' 
It has been ratified, confirmed, or enlarged by 
more than twenty popes. It curses every Prot- 
estant Church and every individual Protestant. 
One section of this document reads: ''We do, on 
the part of Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy 
Spirit, and also by the authority of the blessed 



116 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

Apostles, Peter and Paul, and by our own, ex- 
communicate and curse all Hussites, Wickliflfites, 
Lutherans^ Zwinglians, Calvinists, Huguenots, 
Anabaptists, Trinitarians and apostates from the 
faith of Christ, and all and sundry heretics, by 
whatsoever name they may be reckoned, and of 
whatever sect they may be; and those who be- 
lieve in them, and their receivers, abettors, and, 
in general, all their defenders whatsoever; and 
those who without our authority and that of the 
Apostolic See, knowingly read or retain, or print, 
or in any way defend the books containing their 
heresy, or treating of religion." (Constitutio 
Pauli Y., Perceval on the Roman Schism, Intro- 
duction, p. 37). 

The creed of Pius lY. , which is a standard, 
makes every one who recites it say: "I, N. N., 
at this present, freely profess and sincerely hold 
this true Catholic faith, without which no one can 
be saved." (Bulla Super Forma Juram. Profess 
Fid., p. 228. Canones et Decreta Cone. Trid.). 

Du Pin, the celebrated Catholic historian, says: 
"The popes and prelates (perceiving that the 
notorious heretics contemned the spiritual power, 
and that excommunication and other ecclesiastical 
penalties were so far from reducing them that 
they rendered them more insolent and put them 
upon using violence), were of opinion that it was 



ROME AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 117 

lawful to make use of force to see whether those 
who were not reclaimed out of a sense of their 
salvation might be so by the fear of punishments, 
and even of temporal death. There had been 
already several instances of heretics condemned 
to fines, to banishments, to punishments, and 
even to death itself; but there had never been any 
war proclaimed against them. Innocent III. was 
the first that proclaimed such a war against the 
Albigenses, the Waldenses, and against Ray- 
mond, Count of Toulouse, their protector. War 
might subdue the heads and reduce whole bodies 
of people, but it was not capable of altering the 
sentiments of particular persons, or of hindering 
them from teaching their doctrines secretly. 
Whereupon, the pope thought it advisable to set 
up a tribunal of such persons whose business 
should be to make inquiry after heretics, and to 
draw up their processes. . . . And from 
hence this tribunal was called the Inquisition." 
(Eccl. Hist., 13th cent, p. 154). 

St. Thomas Aquinas likewise says: ''Though 
heretics must not be tolerated because they de- 
serve it, we must bear with them till by a second 
admonition they may be brought back to the faith 
of the Church; but those who, after a second ad- 
monition, remain obstinate in their errors, must 
not only be excommunicated, but they must be 



118 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

delivered to the secular powers to be extermi- 
nated." 

If the claim should be made that these are all 
ancient facts and authorities, and that the Catho- 
lics of to-day do not hold such views, our answer 
is at hand. Rome does not change, ana ihe very 
latest writers of Rome make this claim. 

Pius IX. says: "The Church has the right to 
avail itself of force, and to use the temporal 
power for that purpose. " (Pius IX. Encyclical 24). 

Cardinal Manning says: ''That neither the 
Church nor the State, whensoever they are united 
on the true basis of divine right, have any cog- 
nizance of tolerance. . . . The Church has 
the right, in virtue of her divine commission, to 
require of every one to accept her doctrine. 
Whoever obstinately refuses, or obstinately insists 
upon the election out of it of what is pleasing to 
himself is against her. But, were the Church to 
tolerate such an opponent, she must tolerate an- 
other. If she tolerate one sect, she must tolerate 
every sect, and thereby give herself up." (Essays 
on Religion and Literature, p. 403). 

Dr. O. A. Brownson says: "Protestantism of 
every form has not and never can have any right 
where Catholicity is triumphant." {^Catholic Be- 
view, IS 57). And again: "Heresy and infidelity 
have not, and never had, and never can have, any 



ROME AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 119 

right, being, as they undeniably are, contrary to 
the law of God." (^Catholic Beview^ Jan., 1852). 

M. Louis Yenillot, a prominent French Cath- 
olic, says: "When there is a Protestant majority 
we claim religious liberty because such is their 
principle; but when we are in majority we refuse 
it because that is ours." 

A book, largely circulated in this country and 
duly authorized, called "A History of the Catholic 
Church and Half Hours With the Servants of 
God," says: "In no age of Christianity has the 
Church had any doubt that in her hands, and only 
in hers, was the deposit of the true faith and re- 
ligion . . . and that, as it is her duty to 
teach this to all nations, so she is bound by all 
practicable means to restrain those who resist the 
teacher. Some have maintained that no means 
of coercion are lawful for her to use, but the 
overwhelming majority of the canonists take the 
opposite view — namely, that the Church can and 
ought to visit with fitting punishment the heretic 
and the revolter; and since the publication of the 
numerous encyclical letters and allocutions of the 
pope, treating of the relations between Church 
and State, and the inherent rights of the Church, 
the view that the Church had no right of punish- 
ment can no longer be held by any Catholic. 

"In 1492 an edict was issued for the banish-^ 



120 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

ment from Spain of all Jews refusing to embrace 
the Catholic religion. About a hundred thousand 
went into banishment, and an equal or greater 
number remained in Spain, where they gave em- 
ployment to the Inquisition for centuries. 

'^The canon law assumes that all bishops, being 
themselves inquisitors ex vi termini into the purity 
of the faith in their respective dioceses, will co- 
operate with the special inquisitors. Each may 
inquire separately, but the sentence ought to pro- 
ceed from both; if they disagree, reference must 
be made to Home. 

"The Catholic Church lays down, as its princi- 
ple and ground of faith, that all mankind must 
believe whatever she decides and sanctions. She 
interdicts the use of private judgment in matters 
of faith now — she has ever interdicted it — and 
she will continue to interdict it to the end of time. 
Free inquiry, individual preference, liberty of 
mind, freedom of thought, private judgment, in 
the domain of faith are words which she has no 
ears to hear. She will not, she can not, listen to 
them. They would rend the rock on which she 
rests. She takes her unchanging stand. Her 
teaching is absolute, unerring. No creeds of 
human origin can rear their heads within her pale, 
except to be branded with her loud and withering 
anathemas. She will never recognize any appeal 



ROME AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 121 

from her tribunal. In all places, at all times, in 
all circumstances, her voice is unchanging." 
(Pages 77, 78). 

Father Fidelis, at the dedication of the Roman 
Catholic University, in Washington, declared: 
"Either the Catholic Church is God's agency set 
in operation and maintained by Him for the sal- 
vation of mankind, or else there is no hope from 
God. . . . Protestantism has had its day, 
and is passing, as all human systems of phi- 
losophy or religion must surely pass." 

Stephen Keenan, in his "Controversial Cate- 
chism," approved by a cardinal, says: 

"Q. Must all who wish to be saved die united 
to the Catholic Church? 

"A. All those who wish to be saved must die 
united to the Catholic Church, for out of her there 
is no salvation. 

"Q. Have Protestants any faith in Christ? 

"A. They never had. 

"Q. Why not? 

"A. Because there never lived such a Christ as 
they imagine and believe in. 

"Q. In what kind of a Christ do they believe? 

"A. In such a one whom they can make a liar, 
with impunity; whose doctrine they can interpret 
as they please, and who does not care what a 
man believes, providing he is an honest man be- 
fore the public. 



122 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

"Q. Will such a faith, in such a Christ, save 
Protestants? 

''A. ~No sensible man will assert such an ab- 
surdity. 

"Q. What will Christ say to them on the day 
of judgment? 

"A. I know you not, because you never knew 
me, 

"Q. Are Protestants willing to confess their 
sins to a Catholic priest, who alone has power 
from Christ to forgive sins? 'Whose sins you 
shall forgive, they are forgiven. ' 

"A. No; for they generally have an utter aver-^ 
sion to confession, and therefore their sins will 
not be forgiven throughout all eternity. 

"Q. What follows from this? 

"A. That they die in their sins and are damned?" 

Pius IX., in his encyclical letters, dated De- 
cember 8, 1849, December 8, 1864, August 10, 
1863, and in his allocution of December 9, 1864, 
says: "It is not without sorrow that we have 
learned another not less pernicious error, which 
has been spread in several parts of Catholic 
countries, and has been imbibed by many Catho- 
lics, who are of the opinion that all those who are 
not at all members of the true Church of Christ 
can be saved. 

"Hence they often discuss the question con- 



ROME AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 12a 

cerning the future fate and condition of those who 
die without having professed the Catholic faith, 
and give the most frivolous reasons in support of 
their wicked opinion. It is indeed of faith, that 
no one can be saved outside the Apostolic Koman. 
Church; that this Church is the one ark of salva- 
tion, that he who has not entered it will perish in 
the deluge. 

"We therefore must mention and condemn 
again that most pernicious error which has been, 
imbibed by certain Catholics, who are of the 
opinion that those people who live in error and 
have not the true faith, and are separated from 
Catholic unity, may obtain life everlasting." 

Pope Pius IX. further states: "The Catholic 
religion, with all its votes, ought to be exclusively 
dominant in such sort, that every other worship 
shall be banished and interdicted." 

The Catholic press is equally explicit. 

The New York Tablet says: "They have, as 
Protestants, no authority in religion, and count 
for nothing in the Church of God. They have 
from God no right for propagandism, and relig- 
ious liberty is in no sense violated when the 
national authority closes their mouths and their 
places of holding forth." 

The Shepherd of the Valley^ St. Louis, l^ovem- 
ber 28, 1851, said: "If Catholics ever gain a 



124 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

sufficient majority in this country, religious free- 
dom is at an end; so our enemies say; so we be- 
lieve." 

The Watchma7i, St. Louis, says: "Protestant- 
ism! We would draw and quarter it. We would 
impale it and hang it up for crows' nests. We 
would tear it with pinchers and fire it with hot 
irons. We would fill it with molten lead, and 
sink it in hell fire a hundred fathoms deep." 

THE STATE MUST EXECUTE THE WILL OF KOME. 

4. The State must be ready and willing to ex- 
ecute the will of the Catholic Church. The State 
is subordinate to the Church, and must become 
the executive power of the Church. Such is the 
claim of Rome. The Church is bound to respect 
no claim of the State, but the State is bound to 
accede to the claims of Rome. 

Pope Innocent III., A. D. 1215, condemned 
every step taken to secure the Magna Charter and 
the document itself. He says: "We are not in- 
clined to cloak the audacity of so great a display 
of malice, tending to contempt of the Holy See, 
and the detriment of regal rights the disgrace of 
the English nation, and serious danger to the 
whole affairs of the Crucified One, which would 
certainly be realized unless by our authority all 
things were revoked which had been extorted in 



ROME AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 125 

such a way from so great a prince, now bearing 
the sign of a crusader, although he himself were 
willing to observe these engagements. We, on 
behalf of Almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy 
Spirit, also by the authority of his Apostles, Peter 
and Paul, and by our own, with the general ad- 
vice of our brethren, reprobate and utterly con- 
demn an agreement of this kind, prohibiting, 
under a threatened anathema, said king from pre- 
suming to keep it; and the barons, with their ac- 
complices, from demanding that it should be 
observed. We completely annul and quash both 
the charter and the bonds or securities which 
have been given for its observance, that at no 
time they may have any validity.'' (Matt. Paris, 
A. D. 1215, p, 267). 

Sixtus y., on the 22nd day of March, 1590, 
told Olivarez, the ambassador of Philip II., that: 
' 'The pope is appointed of God as the superior of 
every other sovereign." (Ranke's Hist. Popes, 
vol. 2, p. 28). 

Innocent IV., in the Council of Lyons, July 16, 
1245, issued a decree against Frederic, Emperor 
of Germany, in which he says: "We hoJd on 
earth the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . 
and we do hereby declare the above-named prince, 
who has rendered himself unworthy of the honors 
of sovereignty, and for his crimes has been de- 



126 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

posed from his throne by God, to be bound by 
his sins, and cast off by the Lord, and deprived 
of all his honors, and we do hereby sentence and 
deprive him, and all who are in any way bound to 
him by an oath of allegiance, we forever absolve 
and release from that oath, and by the apostolic 
authority, strictly forbid any one from obeying 
him, or in any way whatever attempting to obey 
him as emperor or king; and we decree that any 
who shall henceforth give him assistance or ad- 
vice, or show favor to him as emperor or king, 
shall be ipso facto excommunicated; and those in 
the empire upon whom the election of an emperor 
devolves, may freely elect a successor in his 
place." (Matt. Paris, A. D. 1245). 

Gregory Yll. presents the claims of the pope 
in the boldest light. He says: "Go to, there- 
fore, most holy princes of the apostles, and what 
I said, by interposing your authority, confirm; 
that all men may now at length understand, if ye 
can bind and loose in heaven, that ye also can 
upon earth take away and give empires, king- 
doms, and whatsoever mortal can have ; for, if ye 
can judge things belonging unto God, what is to 
be deemed concerning these inferior and profane 
things? And if it is your part to judge angels, 
who govern proud princes, what becometh it you 
to do toward servants? Let kings, now, and all 



ROME AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 127 

secular princes, learn, bj tins man's example, 
what ye can do in heaven, and in what esteem je 
are with God; and let them henceforth fear to 
slight the commands of holy Church; but put 
forth suddenly this judgment, that all men may 
understand that, not casually, but by your means, 
this son of iniquity doth fall from his kingdom."" 
And, further: "That royal authority is ordained 
of God, and should remain within its proper 
limits, subordinate to the papal power, which is 
sovereign over all." (Pope's Supremacy, p. 7). 

A very significant letter from Pius IX. was 
found on Maximilian, the Emperor of Mexico, 
when he was shot. It reads as follows: "Your 
majesty is well aware that in order effectually to 
repair the evils occasioned by the revolution, and 
to bring back, as soon as possible, happy days 
for the Church, the Catholic religion must, above 
idl things, continue to be the glory and the main- 
stay of the Mexican nation, to the exclusion of 
every other dissenting worship; that the bishops 
must be perfectly free in the exercise of their 
pastoral ministry; and the religious orders should 
be reestablished or reorganized, comformable 
with the instructions and the powers which we 
have given; that the patrimony of the Church, 
and the rights which attach to it, may be main- 
tained and protected; that no person may obtain 



128 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

the faculty of teaching and publishing false and 
subversive tenets; that instruction, whether pub- 
lic or private, should be directed and watched 
over by the ecclesiastical authority; and that, in 
short, the chains may be broken which, up to the 
present time, have held down the Church in a 
state of dependence, and subject to the arbitrary 
rule of the civil government. " (Appleton's Annual 
Cyclopaedia, 1865, p. 749). 

Another fact that will show the living hatred of 
Rome to all who will not bow to her authority. I 
subscribe the awful curse pronounced by Fope 
Pius IX. upon Yictor Emmanuel, King of Italy: 
"By authority of the Almighty God, the Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost; and of the Holy Canons, 
and of the undefiled Virgin Mary, mother and 
nurse of our Saviour; and of the celestial virtues, 
angels, archangels, thrones, dominions, powers 
cherubim and seraphim, and of all the holy patri- 
archs and prophets; and of the apostles and 
evangelists; and of the holy innocents, who, in 
the sight of the Holy Lamb, are found worthy to 
sing the new song; and of the holy martyrs and 
holy confessors, and of the holy virgins, and of 
the saints, together with all the holy and elect of 
God; we excommunicate and anathematize him, 
and from the threshold of the holy Church of 
God Almighty we sequester him, that he may be 



ROME AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 129 

tormented in eternal excruciating sufferings, to- 
gether with Dathan and Abiram, and those who 
say to the Lord God, 'Depart from us; we desire 
none of thy ways.' And as fire is quenched by 
water, so let the light of him be put out forever- 
more. May the Son who suffered for us, curse 
him. May the Father who created man, curse 
him. May the Holy Ghost which was given to 
us in our baptism, curse him. May the Holy Cross 
which Christ, for our salvation, triumphing over 
his enemies, ascended, curse him. May the holy 
and eternal Virgin Mary, mother of God, curse 
him. May St. Michael, the advocate of holy souls, 
curse him. May all the angels and archangels, 
principalites and powers, and all the heavenly 
armies, curse him. May St. John, the precursor, 
and St. Peter and St. Faul, and St. John the 
Baptist, and St. Andrew, and all other Christ's 
apostles, together curse him. And may the rest 
of his disciples and four evangelists, who, by 
their preaching, converted the universal world — 
and may the holy and wonderful company of 
martyrs and confessors, who by their holy work 
are found pleading to God Almighty — curse him. 
May the Choir of the Holy Yirgins, who for the 
honor of Christ have despised the things of this 
world, damn him. May all the saints who from 
the beginning of the world, and everlasting ages 



130 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

are found to be beloved of God, damn him. May 
the heavens and the earth, and all things remain- 
ing therein, damn him. 

"May he be damned wherever he may be; 
whether in the house or in the field, whether in 
the highway or in the byway, whether in the wood 
or in the water, or whether in the church. May 
he be cursed in living and dying, in eating and 
drinking, in fasting and thirsting, in slumbering 
and sleeping, in watching or walking, in standing 
or sitting, in lying down or walking mingendo 
cancando, and in all bloodletting. May he be 
cursed in all the faculties of his body. May he 
be cursed inwardly and outwardly. May he be 
cursed in his hair. May he be cursed in his brain. 
May he be cursed in the crown of his head and in 
his temples. In his forehead and in his ears. In 
his eyebrows and in his cheeks. In his jawbones 
and his nostrils. In his foreteeth and in his 
grinders. In his lips and in his throat. In his 
shoulders and in his wrists. In his arms, his 
hands, and his fingers. May he be damned in his 
mouth, in his breast, in his heart, and in all the 
viscera of his body. May he be damned in his 
veins and in his groin; in his thighs; in his hips 
and in his knees; in his legs, feet and toe nails. 

"May he be cursed in all the joints and articu- 
lations of his body. From the top of his head to 



ROME AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 131 

the sole of his foot may there be no soundness in 
him. May the Son of the living God, with ali 
the glory of His Majesty, curse him; and may 
heaven, with all the powers that move therein, 
rise up against him, curse him and damn him! 
Amen! So let it be! Amen." 

Fellow-Americans, you may answer if we are 
going to permit such a power to dominate the 
United States. 1 will give a few other facts for 
your consideration. Rome has always denied 
that statement that no faith was to be kept with 
heretics. Here it is in a decree of the Council of 
Constance, A. D. 1414: "The holy council de- 
clares that no safe conduct given by the emperor, 
by kings, or by other secular princes, to heretics, 
or reputed heretics, thinking thereby to reclaim 
them from their errors, however binding the in- 
strument may be considered, shall be of any force, 
or ought to be, to the prejudice or hindrance of 
the Catholic faith, or ecclesiastical jurisdiction; 
so as to prevent the proper ecclesiastical judge 
from inquiring into the errors of the party, and 
otherwise proceeding against them, as justice may 
require, should they obstinately refuse to renounce 
their errors; although they may have come to the 
place of trial, relying on the said safe-conduct, 
and otherwise would not have come. Nor shall 
he who gave the safe-conduct continue to be 



132 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

bound thereby in any respect, seeing that he has 
done all that is in his power." 

Bellarmine declared: "There is no other rem- 
edy for the evil but to put heretics to death." 

Cardinal Manning, speaking in the name of 
the pope, says: "I acknowledge no civil power; 
I am the subject of no prince; and I claim 
more than this: I claim to be the supreme judge 
and director of the consciences of men." 

Brownson says in his Review for June, 1851: 
"The power of the Church exercised over sover- 
eigns in the middle ages was not a usurpation, 
was not derived from the concessions of princes 
or the consent of the people, but was and is held 
by divine right, and who so resists it rebels 
against the King of Kings and Lord of Lords." 

THE INQUISITION. 

5. The Inquisition is a standing memorial of 
the hatred of Catholics toward Protestants. It 
was established by Pope Innocent III., and 
the measures proposed by him were revised by 
the Council of Toulouse, in 1229. It is claimed 
that, directly or indirectly, fifty millions of peo- 
ple lost their lives by the Inquisition. I have no 
"words which can describe this diabolical spiritual 
court of infamy. 

Yoltaire, in speaking of the inquisitors, says: 



ROME AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 133 

"Their form of proceeding is an infallible way to 
destroy whomsoever the inquisitors wish. The 
prisoners are not confronted with the accuser or 
informer. Nor is there any informer or witness 
who is not listened to. A public convict, a notori- 
ous malefactor, an infamous person, a common 
prostitute, a child, are in the holy office, though 
nowhere else, credible accusers and witnesses. 
Even the son may depose against his father, the 
wife against her husband." The wretched pris- 
oner is no more made acquainted with his crime 
than with his accusers. His being told the one 
might possibly lead him to guess the other. To 
avoid this, he is compelled, by tedious confine- 
ment in a noisome dungeon, where he never sees 
a face but the jailer's, and is not permitted the 
use of either books or pen and ink, or, should 
confinement alone not be sufficient, he is com- 
pelled, by the most excruciating torture, to inform 
against himself, to discover and confess the crime 
laid to his charge, of which he is often ignorant. 
"This procedure," continues the historian, "un- 
heard of till the institution of this court, makes 
the whole kingdom tremble. Suspicion reigns in 
every breast. Friendship and quietness are at an 
end. The brother dreads his brother, the father 
his son. Here taciturnity is become the char- 
acteristic of a nation, endued with all the vivacity 



134 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

natural to the inhabitants of a warm and fruitful 
climate. To this tribunal we must likewise im- 
pute that profound ignorance of sound philosophy 
in which Spain lies buried, whilst Germany, Eng- 
land, France, and even Italy, have discovered so 
many truths, and enlarged the sphere of our 
knowledge. Never is human history so debased 
as where ignorance is armed with power." (Uni- 
versal History, vol. 2, ch. cxviii). 

No words can picture the horrors inflicted upon 
persons tortured. Llorente, formerly Secretary of 
the Inquisition, and Chancellor of the University 
of Toledo, Spain, says: "I shall not describe 
the different modes of torture employed by the In- 
quisition, as that has been done by many his- 
torians already; I shall only say that none of 
them can be accused of exaggeration." (Llorente's 
History of the Inquisition, p. 30). 

The dead did not escape the inquisitor. If he 
left money that the Church desired, some charge 
was trumped up against him. Ferdinand Yaldes, 
Archbishop of Seville and Inquisitor General in 
1561, among eighty-one rules for the Holy Office, 
issued the following: "When sufficient proof ex- 
ists to authorize proceeding against the memory 
and property of a deceased person, according to 
the ancient instruction, the accusation of the 
fiscal shall be signified to the children, the heirs 



ROME AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 135 

or other interested persons, each of whom shall 
receive a copy of the notification. If no person 
presents himself to defend the memory of the ac- 
cused, or to appeal against the seizure of his 
goods, the inquisitors shall appoint a defender 
and pursue the trial, considering him as a party. 
If any one interested appears, his rights shall be 
respected. Until the affair is terminated, the 
sequestration of the property cau not take place, 
because it has passed into other hands, yet the 
possessors shall be deprived of it if the deceased 
is not found guilty." (Llorente's History of the 
Inquisition, p. 92). 

If a man could not be proved guilty of heresy 
in any other way he was tortured so that he would 
implicate himself. Limborch says: "They never 
proceed to torture unless there is a lack of other 
proofs; when the prisoner can not make his in- 
nocence appear plainly to the judge, and at the 
same time he can not be fully convicted by wit- 
nesses or the evidence of the thing." (Lim- 
borch's History of the Inquisition, p. 408). 

In this century we have evidence of diabolical 
cruelty. The historian of the Napoleonic wars, in 
describing the capture of Toledo, incidentally re- 
fers to the Inquisition in these words: "Graves 
seemed to open, and pale figures like ghosts issued 
from dungeons which emitted a sepulchral odor. 



136 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

Bushy beards hanging down over the breast, and 
nails grown like birds' claws, disfigured the skel- 
etons, who with laboring bosoms, inhaled for the 
first time for a long series of years, the fresh air. 
Many of them were reduced to cripples, the head 
inclined forward and the arms and hands hanging 
down rigid and helpless. They had been con- 
fined in dens so low they could not rise up in 
them, and in spite of all the care of the [army] 
surgeons many of them expired the same day. 
On the following day Gen. Lasalle minutely in- 
spected the place, attended by several officers of 
his staff. The number of machines for torture 
thrilled even men inured to the battlefield with 
horror. 

"In a recess in a subterranean vault, contigu- 
ous to the private hall for examinations, stood a 
wooden figure made by the hands of monks and 
representing the Yirgin Mary. A gilded glory 
encompassed her head, and in her right hand she 
held a banner. It struck all at first sight as sus- 
picious, that notwithstanding the silken robe, de- 
scending on each side in ample folds from her 
shoulders, she should wear a sort of cuirass. On 
closer scrutiny it appeared that the fore part of 
the body was stuck full of extremely sharp nails 
and small, narrow knife blades, with the points 
of both turned toward the spectator. The arms 



ROME AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 137 

and hands were jointed, and machinery behind 
the partition set the figure in motion. One of the 
servants of the Inquisition was compelled by com- 
mand of the General to work the machine as he 
termed it. When the figure extended her arms, 
as though to press some one lovingly to her heart, 
the well tilled knapsack of a Polish grenadier was 
made to supply the place of a living victim. The 
/Statue hugged it closer and closer, and when the 
attendant, agreeably to orders, made the figure 
unclasp her arms and return to her former posi- 
tion, the knapsack was perforated to the depth of 
two or three inches, and remained hanging on the 
points of the nails and the knife blades." 

The doors of the Inquisition were forced in 
Home in 1849. I shall give what Father Gavazzi, 
the chaplain of the Koman army testified he saw: 
"He found in one of its prisons a furnace and the 
remains of a woman's dress; that everything com- 
bined to persuade him that it was used for horri- 
ble deaths, and to consume the bodies of victims 
of inquisitorial hate. He saw between the great 
hall of judgment and the apartment of the chief 
jailer a deep trap, a shaft opening into the vaults 
under the Inquisition. As soon as the prisoner 
confessed his offense, he was sent to the Father 
Commissary to receive a relaxation of his punish- 
ment. With the hope of pardon he approached 



138 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

the apartment of the holy inquisitor, but in the 
act of setting his foot at tlie entrance, the trap 
opened and the world of the living heard no more 
of him. He examined some of the matter in the 
pit below this trap, and he found it to be com- 
posed of common earth, rottenness, ashes and 
human hair, fetid to the smell and horrible to the 
sight of the beholder. He says popular fury 
reached its greatest height at the cells of St. Pius 
Y. To reach them you must descend into the 
vaults by ve^-y narrow stairs, and along a corridor, 
equally cramped, you approach the separate cells, 
which for smallness and stench, are a hundred 
times more horrible than the dens of lions and 
tigers in the Coliseum. Looking around he dis- 
covered a cell full of skeletons without skulls, 
buried in lime. The skulls detached from the 
bodies had been collected in a hamper by the 
visitors. Those persons never died a natural 
death; they were doubtless immersed in a bath of 
slaked lime gradually filled up to their necks, the 
lime, by little and little, enclosed the sufferers or 
walled them up all alive. The torment was ex- 
treme, but slow. As the lime rose higher and 
higher, the respiration of the victims became 
more and more painful, because more difiicult, so 
that, with the suffocation of the smoke and the 
anguish of a compressed breathing, they died in 



ROME AND RELIGIOUS LIBERTY. 139 

a manner most horrible and desperate. Some 
time after death the heads would naturally sepa- 
rate from their bodies and roll away into the 
hollows left by the shrinking of the lime. So 
great are the atrocities of the Inquisition that they 
would more than suffice to arouse the detestation 
of a thousand worlds." He adds: "The Koman. 
Inquisition is under the shadow of the Yatican 
palace, and its prefect is the pope in person." 
(Rule's History of the Inquisition, pp. 430, 431). 

If the United States should be so unfortunate 
as to fall under the control of Rome, the Inqui- 
sition would be introduced in this country, as it 
has been in every popish country of earth. Free^ 
America, just yet, is not ready for such a tribunal. 

6. Roman Catholics have offered rewards to 
those who have killed heretics. This is recom- 
mended by the Canon Law of the Catholic Church. 
It says: "The execution of papal commands for 
the persecution of heretics causes remission of 
sins." I will give one illustration of this law. 
In the massacre of St. Bartholomew, the messen- 
ger who brought the news to Rome, received from 
Cardinal Lorraine 1,000 crowns, and the priests- 
went wild with joy. 



140 



AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 



CHAPTER Y. 



THE ATTITUDE OF ROME TOWARD MARRIAGE. 



THE attitude of Rome toward marriage is of 
intense interest to the American people. 
The claims of Rome are of such a character that 
they can not be tolerated for a moment. She holds 

that all Protestants, 
indeed, all persons 
who have not been 
married by a priest, 
are living in adultery 
and that their chil- 
dren are born out of 
wedlock. The posi- 
tion of Rome is so 
infamous, and often 
couched in such scan- 
dalous terms, that I 
will state as deli- 
cately as I can her 
position. 1. Rome 
puts a stigma upon 
marriage by forbidding her priests and nuns to 
marry, and unduly exalts celibacy. The Council 




ROME AND MARRIAGE. 141 

of Trent decreed: "If any one shall say that 
marriage is preferable to virginity or celibacy, 
and that it is not better and happier to remain in 
virginity or celibacy than to be bound in wedlock, 
let him be accursed." (Canon X.) The Mission- 
Book says: ''It must not be forgotten that there 
is a state still higher and holier, and that all are 
not called to marriage either by nature or by the 
will of God." (Sacrament of Matrimony, p. 450). 
The Mission-Book lays down this impediment to 
marriage: "All persons who have made solemn 
vows of chastity, by entering into some religious 
order, are incapable of contracting marriage; and 
so are all orders of the clergy, beginning with 
sub-deacons and upward." (Mission-Book,p.456). 
This position is contrary to the holy Scriptures. 
We at least know that some of the apostles were 
married, and that none of them were forbidden to 
marry. Peter was a married man when he was 
chosen an apostle (Matt. 8:14, 15); and he had his 
wife with him long years afterward (1 Cor. 9:5). 
Philip was a married man and had children (Acts 
21:9). While Paul was not married, he claimed 
the right to marry (1 Coro 9:5). One of the qual- 
ifications of a bishop was that he should be "the 
husband of one wife"; and one "that ruleth his 
own house, having his children in subjection with 
all gravity." A forceful reason was added for 



142 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

this: "For if a man know not how to rule his 
own house, how shall he take care of the church 
of God?" (1 Tim. 3:2, 4, 5). Again, we read in 
Heb. 13:4: "Marriage is honorable in all, and 
the bed undefiled.''' There is no exception made 
of a priest or nun. One of the express signs of 
having departed from the faith was "forbidding to 
marry." (1 Tim. 4:3). That was written to a 
preacher and for his guidance. I can not, there- 
fore, believe that Roman Catholicism is in accord 
with the Word of God. 

The fathers ril tell us that the ministry married, 
and history tells us that the priesthood married 
for more than a thousand years. I can only give 
a few statements out of hundreds which might be 
quoted. I select my quotations almost at random. 

Eusebius quoted Clement of Alexandria as say- 
ing: "Peter and Fhilip begat children; Philip 
also gave his daughters in marriage. And Paul 
does not hesitate, in one of his epistles, to greet 
his wife, whom he did not take about with him, 
that he might not be inconvenienced in his min- 
istry." (Eccl. Hist., lib. iii., c. 30. Patrologise, 
vol. 2, p. 278). 

Tertullian, arguing against second marriages, 
said to a widower: "That you may then marry 
in the Lord, according to the law and apos- 
tles, if you are still concerned for this, have 



ROME AND MARRIAGE. 143 

you such assurance as to demaDd that (second) 
marriage, which is not lawful for them to enter 
upon from whom ye demand it, that is from the 
bishop who is once married, and from the presby- 
ter and deacons in the same state, and from the. 
widows whose society you refuse." (De Monog- 
ama, c. ii. Patrologiae, vol. 2, p. 979). 

Socrates says: "There have been among them 
(the clergy) many bishops who have had children 
by their lawful wives during their episcopate." 
(Eccl. His., lib. 2, c. xliii). 

Gregory the Great, bishop of Rome, who died 
A. D. 605, was the grandson of another pope. 
Gregory was by nation a Roman, a son of Gordian, 
deducing his race from ancestors that were not 
only noble, but religious. And Felix, once bishop 
of the same Apostolic See, a man of great honor 
in Christ and in his Church, was his great grand- 
father. (Bede's Eccl. Hist., lib. ii., c. i). 

Gregory Yll. was the man who did more against 
the marriage of the clergy than any other. He 
called a synod, 1074, and ordered the separation 
of men and women. Matthew, of Westminster 
said of that synod: "Some priests who had taken 
wives he deposed and removed from office by a 
new example, and, it seemed to many, an incon- 
siderate prejudice, in contradiction to the ancient 
fathers." (At A. D. 1075). 



144 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

Roman Catholic authorities freely admit that 
the early ministers were permitted to marry. 

Thaunus, an excellent historian, says: "No 
papal writer denies that the first who opposed the 
clergy's being married was Pope Calixtus, in the 
year 220; until which time the marriage of the 
clergy, in both the Eastern and Western Churches, 
was lawful, and that Maximilian II. then urged 
against him, that the priests of the old law and 
most of the blessed apostles were married men." 

Cardinal Cajetan says: "Setting aside all other 
laws and standing on those we have from Christ 
and the apostles, it can not appear by reason, or 
by any authority, that holy orders can be any 
hindrance to marriage, either as it is an order or 
as it is holy." (Cajet., tom. i., tract. 25). 

Nicolas Causanus says: "Till the time of Pope 
Cyricius, in 385, it was lawful for all priests to 
marry, nor vow, nor law, nor other restraint 
being to the contrary." (Nichol. Cusan,, ep. 2, ad 
Boem). 

Polydore Yergil says: "The marriage of the 
clergy could not be prevented till Pope Gregory 
YIL, in the year 1074, determined it; in which, 
however, he was resisted, as introducing a custom 
never received. " (Pol.Yergl. de invent., v. i.,c.4). 

Bellarmine "grants that for some hundreds of 
years the Church of Rome permitted her Greek 



ROME AND MARRIAGE. 145 

priests to have their wives, and proves by argu- 
ments that by the law of God this is not for- 
bidden." (Bellar. de Cleric, 1. i., c. 18). 

Indeed, the matter was never fully settled until 
the Council of Trent. 

THE CLEKGY MUST NOT MARKY. 

The forbidding of the clergy to marry in the 
Church of Rome has led to the most fearful ex- 
cesses. One who has never read the lives of the 
popes, or a history of the priesthood, can have no 
conception of these enormities. They are almost 
beyond human belief. They are so foul that I 
can not go into detail. I shall content myself 
with a general statement. You will notice, how- 
ever, that my authorities are all from Catholic 
sources. If Catholics say this much about the 
pollution of the priesthood, what must be the 
pollution and rottenness which is so foul that no 
man dares to write or print it? 

Was not Pope John' XII. killed in the very act 

of adultery by the woman's husband? Nor did 

Baronius scruple to tell the world "that for one 

hundred and fifty years together St. Peter's chair 

was filled, not with apostles, but apostates, put in 

fraudulently by vile prostitutes, viz., Marozia, 

Theodora, etc. A papal writer says of Pope 

Clement Y. : "He was a public debauchee; 
10 



146 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

from that time forth all discipline and religion 
failed among the cardinals," etc. (Faral. Ursp. 
Gen. in Clement Y., Papa): St. Bernard said: 
''The portraiture of these times (12th century) is 
made up of fornications, adulteries, incests, de- 
testible villainies and acts of utmost filthiness. " 
And Honnorius of Athus ranks in order, "princes, 
monks, priests, nuns and nunneries, and all orders 
of men have been thus defiled." See the account 
of the horrible pollutions of the 13th century by 
Matthew Paris; of those of the 14th, by Alvarez 
Pelagius (a defender of Pope John XXII). He 
sets forth "the cloisters as places of prostitution, 
in which debauchery, drunkenness, impure and 
filthy discourses, etc., etc., did reign, and that 
even the horrid sin of Sodom reigned in the most 
august and venerable churches." (Jurien, by 
Whitaker, p. 316). Of those of the 15th century, 
hj Eneas Sylvius; of those of the 16th, by Cor- 
nelius Mus, Bishop of Bitanto. He thus spoke 
publicly in the Council of Trent: "There is no 
filthiness, how monstrous soever, no villainy, no 
impurity with which the people and clergy were 
not defiled." (P. 370). Cardinal Bembo records: 
"That Pope Leo X. was an atheist; and that he 
one day told him, 'This fable of Jesus Christ had 
done them good service.' " 

Cormenin, a Boman Catholic historian, says: 



ROME AND MARRIAGE. 147 

"The Roman Church was transformed into a 
shameless courtezan, covered with silk and precious 
stones, which publicly prostituted itself for gold; 
the palace of the Lateran was becoming a dis- 
graceful tavern, in which ecclesiastics of all nations 
disputed with harlots the price of infamy. Never 
did priests, and especially popes, commit so many 
adulteries, rapes, incests, robberies and murders, 
and never was the ignorance of the clergy so 
great. . . . During more than two centuries, 
incestuous and pedantic priests soiled the steps 
of the altar! Finally, fifty pontiffs, apostates, 
murderers and wantons occupied the chair of St. 
Peter. Platinus, Gonebrard, Stella, Baronius, in 
their writings, call the pontiffs of that age 
simoniacal priests, magicians, sodomites, tyrants, 
robbers and assassins." (History of the Popes, 
vol. 1, pp. 274, 275). 

Cardinal Baronius says: "What was then (A. 
D. 911) the face of the holy Roman Church? 
How exceeding foul it was! When most power- 
ful, and sordid and abandoned women ruled at 
Rome, at whose will the Sees were changed, 
bishops were presented, and, what is horrid to 
hear, false pontiffs, their lovers, were intruded 
into the chair of St. Peter, who are only written 
in the catalogue of Roman pontiffs for the sake of 



148 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

marking the times." (Baronii Annales Ecclesi- 
astici, Antverpise, 1618). 

Father Reeve, a Jesuit, says: "Simony and 
incontinence had struck deep root among the 
clergy of England, Italy, Germany and France. 
The evil began under those unworthy popes, who 
so shamefully disgraced the tiara by their im- 
moral conduct in the 10th century; the scandal 
spread, and had now continued so long, that the 
inferior clergy pleaded custom for their irregu- 
larities. Many even of the bishops were equally 
unfaithful to their vow, and with greater guilt. 
Hence the corrupt laity being under no apprehen- 
sion of reproof from men as deeply immersed in 
vice as they, gave free scope to their passions. 
To stem the torrent of so general a licentiousness 
which then deluged the Christian world, required 
the zeal and fortitude of an apostle." (Hist. 
Christian Church, sect, ix., p. 270). 

Charles Butler, the able Romish historian and 
apologist, says: ''The beginning of the 14th cen- 
tury may be assigned for the era of the highest 
elevation of the Roman pontiffs. On some occa- 
sions they carried their pretensions to a length 
which excited the disgust, and even provoked the 
resistance of the most timid. It must also be ad- 
mitted that the popes were sometimes engaged in 
enterprises evidently unjust ; and the lives of some 



ROME AND MARRIAGE. 149 

of them were confessedly dissolute. All Chris- 
tendom was divided between the popes. During 
the period of the schism, two and sometimes 
three rival popes were wandering over Christen- 
dom, dividing it by their quarrels and scandali- 
zing it by their mutual recriminations. " (Historical 
Memoirs, v. i., pp. 43—45). 

In Fleury's elaborate and extensive Komish 
ecclesiastical history, we are told, that on the 
opening of the Komish Council of Trent, on the 
13th of December, 1545, the three legates ap- 
pointed by Pope Paul III., read a long exhorta- 
tion, of which the following is a brief extract: 
"Let us consider the three evils which at this day 
afflict the Church; let us examine their origin, 
and we shall be obliged to acknowledge that we 
are ourselves the cause. If we have not intro- 
duced heresy, have we not contributed to it, at 
least, by neglecting our duty to sow good doctrine 
and pull out the tares? As to the corruption of 
morals, there is no need to speak of it, because 
no one can be ignorant that the clergy and the 
pastors were corrupters and corrupted." 

Nor have I reason to think that Rome has re- 
formed. It is a notorious fact that in Mexico and 
other popish countries priests live with concu- 
bines. I shall give the statements of two ex-priests, 
whose testimony has never been refuted. Ex- 



150 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

priest Hogan says: ''I have seen husbands un- 
suspiciouslj and hospitably entertaining the very 
priest who seduced their wives in the confessional, 
and was the parent of some of the children who 
sat at the table with them, each of the wives un- 
conscious of the other's guilt, and the husbands 
of both not even suspecting them. The husband 
of her who goes to confession has no hold upon 
her affections. If he claims a right to her confi- 
dence, he claims what he can never receive — he 
claims what she has not to give. She has long 
since given it to her confessor, and he can never 
recover it. She looks to her confessor for advice 
in everything. She may appear to be fond of her 
husband; it is even possible that she -may bain 
reality. 

"She may be gentle, meek and obedient to her 
husband; her confessor will advise her to be so; 
but she will not give him her confidence — she can 
not; that is already in the hands of her confessor. 
He stands an incarnate fiend between man and 
wife, mother and daughter. All the ties of 
domestic happiness and reciprocal duties are thus 
violated with impunity, through the instrument- 
ality of auricular confession. ' ^ (Popish Nunneries, 
p. 132). 

Father Chiniquy was for twenty-five years a 
priest of high standing and endorsed by the lead- 



ROME AND MARRIAGE. . 151 

ing authorities of Rome. He was led to say: 
" 'How many times my God has spoken to me as 
He speaks to all the priests of Rome, and said 
with a thundering voice: 'What would that 
young man do could he hear the questions you 
put to his wife? Would he not blow out your 
brains? And that father, would he not pass his 
dagger through your breast if he could know what 
you ask from his poor, trembling daughter? 
Would not the brother of that young girl put an 
end to your miserable life if he could hear the un- 
mentionable subjects on which you speak with her 
in the confessional?' 

"I was compelled by all the popes, the moral 
theologians and the Councils of Rome to believe 
that this warning voice of my merciful God was 
the voice of Satan. I had to believe, in spite of 
my own conscience and intelligence, that it was 
good, nay, necessary, to put those polluting, 
damning questions. My infallible Church was 
mercilessly forcing me to oblige those poor, 
trembling, weeping, desolate girls and women to 
swim with me and all their priests in those waters 
of Sodom and Gomorrah, under the pretext that 
their self-will would be broken down, their fear 
of sin and humility increased, and that they would 
be purified by our absolutions." (Fifty Years in 
the Church of Rome, p. 584). 



152 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

The Right Rev. A. A. Feijo, Ex-Regent of the 
Empire of Brazil, has written a very strong book, 
urging the abolition of celibacy in that empire. 
He says: "All Brazil knows the necessity of 
abolishing a law that never was, is not, and never 
will be observed. All Brazil is a witness of the 
evils which the immorality of the transgressors of 
that law entails upon society." 

This startling statement was lately made by 
Rrof. L. T. Townsend, of the Boston University: 
"We hold in our hands here a slip of paper con- 
taining the names of one hundred and one Roman 
Catholic priests of the diocese of Archbishop 
Williams, of the city of Boston, who within a few 
years have been dismissed, suspended or other- 
wise disqualified, and who, taken together, were 
guilty of almost every crime in the calendar of 
crimes. And we are to bear in mind that rarely 
are Roman Catholic priests disciplined unless their 
irregularities and iniquities become notorious. 
Here before us, we repeat, are the names of one 
hundred and one disgraced Roman Catholic clergy- 
men. Archbishop Williams can give you a dupli- 
cate of this list, if he chooses to do so." 

Suppose the same could be said of any Prot- 
estant denomination — the daily press would join 
all its forces to hold that denomination up to pub-' 
lie execration. Suppose the Sun and the World 



ROME AND MARRIAGE. 153 

and t\iQ Herald should turn their editorial light in 
the direction of Rome! {^Christian Inquirer). 

Why be surprised at the above? The supposed 
heartfelt piety is a thing nearly unknown among 
Catholic priests. 

We do not charge that all priests are corrupt, 
l)ut when we come to consider the freedom of the 
confessional, the questions asked and the evil 
suggestions put into the minds of females there, 
that priests are frequently convicted of rape, the 
scandals that appear in the public press, we are 
led to believe that there is something terribly 
^rong in the Romish system. 



NTJNNEEIES. 

Neither do I charge that all nunneries are 
houses of prostitution, but the history of certain 
nunneries attest most damaging facts. I shall 
content myself by giving only a few facts Here 
is an account of some outrages perpetrated 
upon young girls in the Saints Joseph and 
Theresa Convent, in the outskirts of the city 
•of Naples, Italy. I quote from the leading 
German paper in the United States, the New 
York Staats Zeitung^ November 8, 1894:: "Silvia 
Palmieri, a Neapolitan girl, was sent to Saints 
Joseph and Theresa Convent to be educated. The 



154 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

mother superior, Theresa Ferrante, seventy years- 
of age, promised the parents of the girl that when 
she finished her education she could leave the con- 
vent or remain there and take the veil. But when 
the girl's parents called to take her home they 
were met by the mother superior, who told them 
that their daughter was very happy and wished to- 
remain in the convent and bid farewell to the out- 
side world, and did not desire to see her parents. 
They begged for a few moments' interview with 
their daughter, but were refused. They then ap- 
pealed to the District Attorney and Police Com- 
missioner, who with a number of police went tO' 
the convent and forced an entrance. When they 
entered, instead of finding a happy young girl, 
they found her in tears, and she begged the offi- 
cers to take her away from the convent. She said 
she had been seduced by gentlemen from Naples 
who visited the convent by consent of the mother- 
superior, and to ascertain whether the girl's story 
was true or not a physician was called in to make- 
an examination, and he stated that the girl spoke 
the truth. Upon these statements the mother 
superior was placed under arrest, Father Rasto, 
the father confessor, was dismissed, and the other 
girls were sent to their homes and the convent 
was closed. There is great excitement in Naples 
over the disclosure of this horrible affair, and all 



ROME AND MARRIAGE. 155- 

the papers have taken it up. This same convent 
was raided and cleaned out four years ago." 

In the memoirs of Scipio de Kicci, a Roman 
prelate, are found the following, among other 
statements: "The nuns of Pistoia (a town of 
Tuscany) testified that the monks taught them 
omnia flagita(all vile things), and that they should 
look upon it as a great happiness libidines satis- 
facere potuerunt sine infantum incommodo. The 
Jesuits also taught the nuns pudenda exhibere 
virtus est (to exhibit their private parts is a virtue), 
assuring them that they thereby performed an act 
of virtue, because they overcame a natural re- 
pugnance." (Yol. L, pp. 131, 132). 

I have no language to express my abhorence of 
such pollution. But Rome claims that an adul- 
terous priest is a better one than a married priest. 
This is so incredible that I offer the proof. 

Hossius, President of the Council of Trent,. 
says: "Pighius is blamed, who wrote that a 
priest, who through infirmity of the flesh, hath 
fallen into whoredom, sins less than if he should 
marry. This doctrine with some is vile, but with 
Catholics it is most honest." (Hossius, Confes., 
c. 56). 

Costerus says: "Should a priest indulge in un- 
cleanness, nay, keep a concubine in his own houses 
although he is thereby guilty of a great sacrilege^ 



156 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

yet he sins more heinously if he marry. " (Coster. 
deCoel., ib. Sacerdot.). 

Cardinal Campeggio says: "That for priests 
to become husbands, is by far a more grievous 
sin than if they should keep many prostitutes in 
their houses. " (Card. Camp. , op. Sleid. , com. 1, 4). 

Mathias Aquensis says: "That a man who, 
after vowing continency, doth marry, offends 
naore than he who, through human frailty, goes 
astray with an hundred different women. " (Math. 
Aquen. Oper.). 

Yet the pope granted dispensations to ecclesi- 
astics to marry, and it was accounted no sin. It 
was, however, the old story of good pay. The 
pope gave such dispensations to Mauritio, son of 
the Duke of Savoy; to Cardinal C. Borgia, who, 
in the year 1500, became Duke of Yalenza and 
married a wife, and to Cardinal Camillo, nephew 
to Pope Innocent X., in 1654. 

But I am not done. These sins were not only 
permitted, but indulgences were sold and the 
revenue was used to support the Catholic Church. 
My meaning will plainly appear from the quota- 
tions I submit from Catholic authors. 

Espencseus says: "Instead of chaste and pure 
celibacy, there hath succeeded impure and filthy 
whoredom." (Espen., lib. 2, cap. 7, de Conti- 
nentia). So that St. Bernard was compelled to 



ROME AND MARRIAGE. 15T 

state: "This whoredom, it is so common, neither 
can be concealed ; nor doth it seek to be liid, it is 
become so brazen; both the clergy as well as the 
laity having permission given them to cohabit 
with their concubines upon the payment of a 
yearly sum of money, this toleration or indulgence 
hath got a firm footing; and this payment being 
made, they are at liberty to keep a concubine or 
not. O, execrable wickedness." (De per sec, 
cap. 29). In his comment on Titus he further 
complains: "Bishops, archdeacons and oflScials 
do ride about their dioceses and parishes, for the 
most part, not to deter the wicked from their 
vices, but to draw out and to defraud both clergy 
and laity of their money, whom, upon the pay- 
ment of a yearly revenue, they permit to cohabit 
with concubines and prostitutes. And this they 
exact in some places of even the chaste, for he 
may, say they, have a concubine if he please. 
And how often are those who keep concubines, 
and they so many, punished in any other way than 
by thus paying money." 

C. Agrippina mentions "that Pope Sixtus lY. 
erected in Home brothels, out of which a large 
weekly revenue was paid." (De Yenitat. scien, 
p. 64)'. 

Thaunus says: "In the year 1515 Pope Leo 
X., a man giving himself to all licentiousness^, 



158 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

that ho might from all parts scrape up money for 
his vast expenses, at the instigation of Cardinal 
Lorenzo Puccio, sent his bulls of indulgences, 
wherein he promised the expiation of all sin and 
eternal life, through all the kingdoms of the 
Christian world; and there was a price set, what 
■every one should pay, according to the grievous- 
ness of his sins. He appointed collectors and 
treasuries through the provinces, with preachers 
to recommend to the people the greatness of the 
benefit; and those did mightily extol their power 
in drawing souls out of purgatory, shamelessly 
spending the money every day in brothels and 
taverns, at dice and most filthy uses." (Thaunus' 
Histor., 1. i., p. 13). 

Fasciculus Rerum says: "A number of Roman 
princes assembled at Nuremberg, A. D. 1522 and 
1523, and stated an hundred grievances; the 
third is about the increase of the intolerable burden 
of indulgences, by which, under a show of piety 
to churches, or from an expedition against the 
Turks, the popes suck the marrow of their estates; 
and, which heightens the imposture, they say, by 
their hireling criers and preachers. Christian 
piety is banished, while, to advance their markets, 
they cry up their wares, for the granting of won- 
derful, unheard-of, preemptory pardons, not only 
of sins already committed, but of sins which 



ROME AND MARRIAGE. 159 

shall be committed, and also the sins of the dead; 
so that, by the sale of these wares, together with 
being spoiled of our money, Christian piety is 
extinguished, while any one may promise himself 
impunity, upon paying the rate that is set upon 
the sin he hath a mind to commit. Hence, whore- 
dom, incests, adulteries, perjuries, murders, thefts, 
etc., and all manner of wickedness, have at once 
their offspring. What wickedness will mortal 
man be afraid to commit when they promise 
themselves license and impunity in sinning while 
they live, and, for a little more money, indul- 
gences may be purchased for them when they are 
dead. "(FasciculusRerum expectend. ,fol. 177, 178). 

What Nicolas Clemangis, a papal archdeacon, 
writes about cardinals, prelates, nuns and their 
horrible abominations is enough to shock any 
mind. Of the priests he says: "That being 
drunkards, and of all men most incontinent, in- 
stead of wives they shamelessly keep prostitutes," 
etc. , and what he says of the nuns I will not men- 
tion. (Lib. de corrupto statu ecclesise, an. 1417). 

St. Bridget, a canonized woman, said of the 
pope: ''Thou art like unto Lucifer, more unjust 
than Pilate, more savage than Judas, more abom- 
inable than the Jews. Thy throne shall be sunk 
like a great stone cast into the sea, that stoppeth 



160 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

not till it shall have arrived at the very depths of 
the ocean." (Brigitt. Rev., 1. i., c. 41). 

A book of rates was published and publicly 
sold. In it is fixed the tax for all manner of un- 
cleanness and debauchery. The sums for such 
sins as incest, perjury, murder, etc., are given. 
(Taxa. , etc., p. 326). Espencseus, after telling 
that it was openly sold, remarks: "It is a wonder 
that, at this time, in this schism, such an infamous 
index, of such filthy and to be abhorred wicked- 
ness, is not suppressed. There is neither in Ger- 
many, Switzerland, nor in any other place where 
there is a defection from the Roman See, a book 
more to their reproach. It teacheth and encour- 
ageth such wickedness as we may be afraid to 
hear named, and a price is set to all buyers; and 
yet it is not suppressed by the favorers of Rome. " 
(Tit., c. i., digr. 2, p. 479). 

This tariff was first established in 1316 by Pope 
John XXII., and first published by Pope Leo X. 
in 1514. Many editions have been published in 
Latin and French. An English translation was 
printed in this country in 1846. I give at random 
a few prices: 

Robbing a church $ 2 25 

Simony 2 25 

Perjury, forgery and lying 2 00 

Robbery 3 00 

Burning a house 2 75 



ROME AND MARRIAGE. 161 

Eating meat in Lent 2 75 

Killing a layman 1 75 

Striking a priest 2 75 

Procuring abortion 1 50 

Priest to keep a concubine 2 25 

Ravishing a virgin 2 00 

Murder of father, mother, brother, sister or wife . . 2 50 

Nun for fornication in or out of the nunnery 5 00 

Marrying on a day forbidden 10 00 

Adultery committed by a priest with nuns and others 10 00 
Absolution of all crimes together 12 00 



Indulgences are still sold. I had cards of that 
character in my hand only the other day. Indul- 
gences are regularly sold in all parts of the United 
States. 

The following promulgation was printed in the 
Courier- Journal^ Louisville, Monday morning, 
July 22, 1895: 

CATHOLIC PKOMULGATION. 

EXTRAOKDINARY INDULGENCE GRANTED ST. MART 
MAGDALENE CHURCH. 

Yesterday at St. Mary Magdalene Catholic 
church the pastor, the Yery Rev. Louis G. Dep- 
pen, gave the following important promulgation: 
''The Holy Father, Pope Leo XIII. , in an audi- 
ence given on October 2, was pleased to grant to 
the church of St. Mary Magdalene, on Brook 
street, the extraordinary indulgence of the Forti- 

uncula, commonly called the pardon. Accordingly 
11 



162 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

all the faithful of both sexes, no matter to what 
parish they belong, who being truly penitent and 
having gone to confession and. to holy communion, 
will visit the church of St. Mary Magdalene, on 
Brook, near College street, at any time from the 
first vespers on the feast of St. Peter's Chains, 
August 1, until sunset on the following day, the 
2d of August, and while in the church will de- 
voutly -pray for some time for the propagation of 
the faith, and according to the mind of his Holi- 
ness, may gain the great indulgence or pardon. 
And, furthermore, they may gain the indulgence 
not only once, but as often as they repeat the 
visits within the above specified time and praying 
as stated. This indulgence may also be applied 
to the holy souls in purgatory. The peculiarity of 
this privileged indulgence is that it can be acquired 
several times on that day, or as often as a person 
shall visit the church of St. Mary Magdalene 
from 3 P.M., August 1, to 7 p.m., on August 2. 

''The indulgence will begin with solemn ves- 
pers and benediction of the Most Blessed Sacra- 
ment, after which confessions will be heard and 
the visits may be made until 11 o'clock at night. 

"August 2, Feast of the Dedication of Our Lady 
of the Angels, 8:30 a.m., solemn high Mass and 
sermon with exposition of the blessed sacrament, 
continuing until sunset. Holy communion will 



ROME AND MARRIAGE. 163 

be given at 4:30, 5, 5:30, 6, 6:30, T, and 7:30 
o'clock on the morning of this day. At 4 p.m. 
the solemn second vespers and benediction of the 
blessed sacrament will be held. The time for 
gaining the indulgence will terminate at T p.m. 
Confessions also will be heard and holy com- 
munion given from 4: to 11:30 a.m. on August 2." 

A writer in Harjper^ s Magazine for July, 1854:, 
page 162, writing from Rome, says: "That par- 
don for every crime has its price, is no fiction in 
the annals of Rome; not that the trafiic in abso- 
lution is openly indulged or always abused, but 
that it is in some cases openly avowed, I know, 
and sermons preached containing the detestable 
doctrine and the price attached to the greatest 
crimes against the law of God. Such a one was 
heard by a friend of mine, in Spain, in which the 
tariff was distinctly laid down. Good priests of 
every persuasion will reprobate this evil; but the 
Church of Rome, from which it sprung, still per- 
nios a practice so fruitful in profit to her treasury. " 

If you desire to know why Rome, in the face 
of these dark sins, still insists upon the celibacy 
of the clergy, the reason is not' far to seek. I 
prefer, however, to give that reason in the lan- 
guage of Cardinal Radolpho Rio di Carpi, which 
he used before the Council of Trent. He says: 
"That priests having house, wife and children, 



164 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

will not depend on the pope, but their prince, 
and their love for their children will cast their 
Church in the shade; that the authority of the 
Apostolic See will be confined to Rome. Before 
single life was instituted, the See of Kome re- 
ceived no profit from other nations and cities. 
Now the See is the patron of many beneficiaries 
of which the marriage of priests would deprive 
it." (Sarpi's Hist. Coun. Trent, p. 527). 



THE LAW or DIVORCES. 

2. The theory of Catholicism is that marriage 
is a sacrament, and under no condition shall a 
man be divorced from his wife, except for forni- 
cation, and then only from his bed and board, and 
under no conditions shall he marry again so long 
as his wife lives. I have not one word of defense 
to make for the lax divorce laws of this land. 
They are evil and a disgrace. But the Bible does 
permit marriage again in case of adultery. 
Matthew 19:9 reads: "Whosoever shall put away 
his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall 
marry another, committeth adultery; and whoso 
marrieth her which is put away doth commit 
adultery." That Scripture settles the question 
beyond doubt. 

But, with all their boasting, the Koman Cath- 



ROME AND MARRIAGE. 165 

olics have violated this law of divorce time and 
again. They have granted divorces not only for 
fornication, but for all manner of reasons. I 
shall point out a few notable instances. 

The pope desired to unite Spain and England 
against his old enemy, Louis XII. of France. So 
the pope, while Henry YIII. was still a true 
Catholic, granted him a dispensation to marry his 
brother's wife, and would have granted as many 
more divorces as Henry desired if his politics had 
continued to suit the pope. (See Burnet's Hist. 
Reformation, vol. 1., p. 46). 

Alphonsus, of Portugal, 1243, divorced his 
queen and espoused the Princess Beatrix. The 
repudiation and nuptials were authorized by a bull 
of his Holiness. (Mariana, v. 3, p. 29). 

A man, says Henry, Canon of Worms, was, in 
the Lavonian dominions, allowed to have two 
living wives, and a woman a plurality of hus- 
bands. (Henry in Lenfran., vol. 1., p. 53). Yet 
that was a good Catholic country. 

Ladilas, king of Hungary, divorced Beatrix, of 
Aragon, and married Anne of Foix. The sepa- 
ration from the one and the union with the other 
were by the express authority of Pope Alexander. 
(Mariana, vol. 5, p. 299). 

Louis, the French king, disliked his queen, 
Jeanne, who was crooked, infirm, barren and de- 



166 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

formed. He accordingly dismissed her and mar- 
ried Anne. Pope Alexander obliged him with a 
divorce. His Holiness, however, charged his 
fee. Thirty thousand ducats, the title and duchy 
of Yalentino, with a revenue of twenty thousand 
pounds; the Princess Charlotta, sister of the 
Queen of Navarra, to his son, Borgia." (Daniel, 
vol. 7, p. 10). 

3. Rome has put barriers around the marriage 
rite that the New Testament does not direct. 

E-ome claims that the pope can change the 
terms of the Bible on this point, and pronounces 
a curse upon all who deny it. The Council of 
Trent decreed: "If any man shall say that only 
those degrees of consanguinity and aflBnity ex- 
pressed in Leviticus can hinder men from con- 
tracting matrimony or dissolve it when contracted^ 
and that the Church can not dispense with some 
of these degrees, or appoint that others may 
hinder and dissolve it; let him be accursed." 
(Canon III.). 

Home claims that she can forbid marriage at 
certain seasons of the year. The Council of Trent 
decreed: "If any one shall say that a prohibition 
of the solemnization of marriage at certain sea- 
sons of the year is a tyrannical superstition, pro- 
ceeding from the superstition of the heathen, or 
shall condemn the benedictions or other cere- 



ROME AND marriage; 167 

monies which the Church uses in it, let him be 
accursed." (Canon XI.). 

Rome declares that second cousins shall not 
marry. The Council of Trent says: "In the 
second degree no dispensation shall ever be 
granted unless between great princes, and for a 
public cause." (Cap. Y.). We suppose the rea- 
son for this difference between great princes and 
poor men is that "great princes" can pay high 
for the privilege and poor men can not. I was 
told of a man, iu Mexico, who paid the pope 
one hundred thousand dollars for the privilege of 
marrying his own sister. The dispensation was 
duly granted. 

Rome lays down, in the United States, the fol- 
lowing impediments to marriage: 

"l. Consanguinity is that impediment which 
exists between blood relations to the fourth de- 
gree inclusively. In other words, marriage is 
forbidden between third cousins, or any nearer 
degree of kindred. And this impediment exists 
when the relationship arises from an illegitimate 
birth. 

"2. Affinity is relationship by marriage. It is 
forbidden to marry the third cousin, or any nearer 
blood relation, of one's former husband or wife. 
The same is true of a person, and the blood rela- 
tions of any one with whom he has had unlawful 



168 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

connection; but, in this case, the impediment ex- 
tends only to the second degree (first cousin). 
Spiritual afiinity is a species of relationship con- 
tracted by means of the sacraments of baptism 
and confirmation. For this reason parents can 
not marry with the sponsors of their child, or 
with any person who baptized it; nor can sponsors 
marry with their god children. So, if one bap- 
tizes the child of another, even although it were 
a case of necessity, he can not afterward marry 
with either the child or the parent. 

"3. Public decency is an impediment which 
forbids one to marry with a parent, a child, with 
a brother or a sister of the person to whom one 
has been validly engaged by a promise of mar- 
riage. Also, if one has contracted an invalid 
marriage, or a valid marriage which, however, 
was never consummated, it is forbidden, in such 
case, to marry with the blood relations of the other 
party, as far as the fourth degree; that is to say, 
with a third cousin, or anything nearer. 

"4. Crivie is sometimes an impediment. Per- 
sons who are guilty of homicide and adultery, 
with an engagement to marry, are rendered in- 
capable of contracting marriage together. 

"5. Difference of religion is an impediment 
which makes a marriage null and void between a 
baptized person and one who was never baptized. 



ROME AND MARRIAGE. 169 

"6. Yows. All persons who have made solemn 
T'ows of chastity, by entering into some religious 
order, are incapable of contracting marriage; and 
so are all orders of the clergy, beginning with 
subdeacons and upward. 

''7. Clandestine inarriag es. ' i]i2iii^^ tho^Q^hich. 
are contracted without the presence of the parish 
priest and of two witnesses, are made null and 
void by the Council of Trent. In the United 
States, however, where the decrees of the Council 
have not yet been published (the decrees have been 
published in St. Louis, New Orleans and Detroit; 
in these dioceses, therefore, clandestine marriages 
are invalid), these marriages, although sinful, are 
valid. It is a most wicked and detestable thing, 
that Catholics should ever so far forget aM 
dictates of faith and piety as to be coupled like 
heathens before a civil magistrate, and even 
sometimes before a heretic preacher, in contempt 
of the Church of God and the sanctity of this 
sacrament. In case of necessity, as when those 
who desire to marry live very far from any church 
or priest, they may lawfully apply to a magistrate 
for that purpose, and it is better to do so, in order 
that their marriage may be more public and be 
recorded; but it is never lawful to have recourse 
to a heretical minister. Such a marriage is indeed 
binding, but it binds like a curse. 



170 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

"8. The hond of a ])r€,mo%is marriage is an im- 
pediment which death alone can remove. The 
Catholic Church holds that, by the institution and 
ordinance of Almighty God, marriage is indis- 
soluble. No power on earth, no prince, no judge, 
no legislature, can break the bond which unites 
husband and wife. For certain just causes, espe- 
cially for adultery, they may live separately, but 
they are still married and can not marry again. 
If, after such a separation, or after a divorce 
granted by the law of the land, either party 
should marry another person, it would be no true 
marriage before God, but an adultery. 

"Let it be remembered, then, that no divorce^ 
no guilt, no desertion, however wanton and un- 
feeling, no years of absence, can ever break the 
marriage bond. Nothing but a certain hnovjledge 
of the death of one party can make it lawful for 
the other to marry. Although it might cause 
public scandal, although the honor of whole fam- 
ilies may be at stake, although children would be 
exposed to shame and destitution by a separation, 
the guilty parties to these false second marriages 
must separate, under pain of hell fire." (Mission- 
Book, pp. 454-460). 

These laws of Rome are as contrary to the laws 
of our country as they are to the spirit and pre- 
cepts of the New Testament. They are a part of 



ROME AND MARRIAGE. 171 

that system which binds a man body and soul. 

4. Rome declares civil and Protestant mar- 
riages null and void. The consequences of this 
declaration are fearful to contemplate. 

Rome makes marriage an ecclesiastical and not 
a civil contract; therefore marriage by a Prot- 
estant preacher is null and void. The XII. canon, 
Council of Trent, reads: "If any one shall say 
that matrimonial causes do not belong to ecclesi- 
astical judges, let him be accursed." 

MARRIAGE MUST BE BEFORE A PRIEST. 

It would, therefore, follow that all marriages 
must be before a priest, and that other marriages 
are null and void. This is expressly decreed by 
the Council of Trent: "They who shall try to 
contract matrimony otherwise than in the presence 
of the parish priest, or some other priest by his 
permission, or by the license of the ordinary in 
the presence of two or three witnesses (shall fail), 
and the holy synod renders them utterly incapable 
of thus contracting it; and decrees such contracts 
void and null; and it makes them void and annuls 
them by the present decree." 

To make the matter still plainer, it is claimed 
that if Catholics marry before a Protestant 
preacher or civil magistrate, such a marriage is 
void. I quote from Dens, who is a competent 



172 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

authority. He says: "Whether raatrimony be- 
tween two Catholics, in the United Provinces of 
Belgium, contracted without the presence of a 
priest, who can easily be obtained, in the presence 
of a magistrate or non-Catholic minister is valid? 
Answer. Negatively; because the doctors are 
unanimous that the law of the Council of Trent 
is there sufficiently received in the Catholic com- 
munity. Catholics, indeed, are there compelled 
to contract marriage before a magistrate or a non- 
Catholic minister (otherwise their marriages in 
civil matters are not valid), but the matrimonial 
contract before these is not valid; but afterward, 
in the presence of a priest, they are compelled to 
be married anew, and rites of the Church pre- 
scribed by the Council of Trent being observed, 
and then the marriage is properly valid." (De 
Martr.,No. 113). 

The same law holds in the United States in 
reference to a Protestant preacher. We have 
already quoted from the Mission-Book that "it is 
a wicked and detestable thing" to be married by 
a "heretic preacher." A Catholic is not per- 
mitted to marry a Protestant without a dispensa- 
tion and upon the most dishonorable conditions. 
I quote again from the Mission-Book: "Mixed 
marriages are forbidden, viz., the union of a 
Oatholic with heretics, and persons excommuni- 



ROME AND MARRIAGE. 17^ 

cated by the Church. This prohibition is founded 
on reasons of the highest importance. In the 
first place, there is always something repugnant 
and unnatural in these unions. 'Bear not the 
yoke with unbelievers,' says the Apostle Paul to 
the Corinthians. 'What fellowship hath light with 
darkness? or what part hath the faithful with the 
unbeliever?' Such marriages are, moreover, un- 
favorable to domestic peace. 'How,' asks St. 
Ambrose, 'can there be a sincere union of the 
affections when persons are divided in religion?' 
But the worst feature in this sort of marriage is, 
that they are dangerous to the faith of the Cath- 
olic party and of the children. Either domestic 
attachment, or fear, or ridicule, soon weakens the 
faith and dampens the fervor of the Catholic hus- 
band or wife, whilst the children easily follow in 
practice the example of the parent whose religion 
affords the greatest liberty of indulgence." (Mis- 
sion-Book, pp. 4:61, 462). 

In our land a Catholic is not permitted to marry 
a Protestant without a dispensation and only upon 
dishonorable conditions. I quote again from the 
Mission-Book: "When some grave reason exists, 
and the danger of perversion is removed, a dis- 
pensation may be obtained which will make such 
a marriage lawful. No valid dispensation can be 
given, however, unless upon the following con- 



174 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

ditions: 1st, it must be mutually agreed upon 
that the Catholic husband or wife shall enjoy a 
perfect liberty in the exercise of the Catholic re- 
ligion; and, 2nd, that all of the children shall 
be educated in the Catholic faith; 3rd, besides 
this, the Catholic party must promise to seek the 
conversion of the other by prayer, good example, 
and other prudent means. When a dispensation 
has been obtained upon these conditions, the mar- 
riage may take place without sin ; but still it must 
not be supposed that such unnatural unions are 
approved by the Church. She only permits them 
reluctantly and mournfully. She forbids them to 
be celebrated within church walls, or to receive 
the solemn benediction of the priest." (Mission- 
Book, pp. 462, 463). 

ILLEGITIMACY. 

5. 1 am not, therefore, astonished to find that 
the per cent, of illegitimate births in Catholic 
countries far exceed those of Protestant countries. 
A comparison from official figures of the illegiti- 
mate births in Protestant England and popish 
Austria is significant. There are only 6 per cent, 
of such births in England, against 45 per cent, 
in Austria. A comparison between Austria and 
Protestant Prussia will reveal much the same 
state of facts. Austria has 45 per cent, of illegiti- 



ROME AND MARRIAGE. 175 

mate births, against 15 per cent, in Prussia. 
Here are some more interesting figures: "Stock- 
holm was said, a few years ago, to rank the worst 
in respect to illegitimacy of any Protestant city 
in Europe — namely, 29 per cent, of all the births. 
But the following Poman Catholic cities outrank 
this, the worst of all Protestant cities: Paris, 33 
per cent. ; Brussels^ 35 per cent. ; Munich, 48 per 
cent.; Vienna, 51 per cent.; Laybach, 38 per 
cent. ; Brunn, 42 per cent. ; Lintz, 46 per cent. ; 
Prague, 4T per cent. ; Lemberg, 4T per cent. ; 
Klagenfurt, 56 per cent. ; Gratz, 65 per cent. 

"Papal Rome, under the reign of Pius IX., 
showed 143 illegitimate to 100 legitimate births; 
while London, England, showed only four to 100. 
Rome murders were one for every 750 inhabitants, 
while in Protestant England there was one for 
every 187,000." 

In some of the Catholic countries of South 
America 75 per cent, of the children are illegiti- 
mate. And in making all these estimates it must 
not be forgotten that many of the illegitimate 
children born in Protestant countries are of Cath- 
olic parentage. 

From the facts presented in this chapter, the 
man who runs may read, and I leave you to draw 
your conclusions. 



176 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 



CHAPTER YI. 

THE ATTITUDE OF ROME TOWARD THE BIBLE. 

PROTESTANTS hold that in all matters of 
doctrine the Bible is the sole rule of faitli 
and practice; and that traditions, written or un- 
written, decrees of councils, and the interpreta- 
tions of priests and popes are not necessary to a 
right understanding of the Scriptures. They 
think that the New Testament contained all that 
entered into the faith and practice of the apos- 
tolic churches. The authority of the Bible 
stands out alone, and does not need to be sup- 
plemented from any source. If any principle or 
doctrine is not contained in this book it is not 
necessary to be believed or maintained. 

They understand this rule of faith, the Bible^ 
to contain seven particulars: 1. It is inspired. 
"Holy men of God spake as they were moved by 
the Holy Ghost. ' ' (2 Pet. 1 :21). ' 'All Scripture is 
given by inspiration of God." (2 Tim. 3:16). 2. 
It is authoritative. "The word that I have spoken 
the same shall judge him in the last day." (John 
12:48). 3. It is intelligible. "But these are 
written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the 



ROME AND THE BIBLE. 177 

Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye 
might have life through His name." (John 
20:31). 4. It is moral. "Search the Scriptures; 
for in them ye think that ye have eternal life, and 
they are they which testify of me." (John 5:39). 
"The words of the Lord are pure words." (Ps. 
12:6). 5. It is perpetual. "The word of the 
Lord endureth forever." 6. It is universal. 
"Preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 
16:15). 7. It is perfect. "The law of the Lord 
is perfect, converting the soul." (Ps. 19:7; 
2 Tim. 3:15). 

With these facts before me, I think that the 
Scriptures contain all of life and salvation that it 
is necessary for us to know or do. The Catholics 
admit the Scriptures, but they add many other 
things to them as equally binding. By so doing 
the Roman Catholic Church puts dishonor on the 
Word of God. I shall specify some things con- 
nected with the Catholic position: 

1. The Roman Church is out of accord with 
the fathers of the first centuries. That Church 
holds that there must be "unanimous consent of 
the fathers" upon any doctrine. This rule of the 
Catholics would prove that their position on the 
Scriptures is the wrong one. The fathers ap- 
pealed to the Bible as their ultimate rule of faith. 

I present the proof. 
12 



178 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

Tertullian, A. D. 150, says: "How can they 
speak of the things of faith except from the 
Scriptures of faith?" (De Praes. Hseret., c. 15. 
Migne's Patrologise, vol. 2, p. 33). "He (the 
Christian) acknowledges one God, the creator of 
the universe, and Jesus Christ, the Son of the 
Creator, from the Yirgin Mary, and the resurrec- 
tion from the dead. He unites the law and the 
prophets with the evangelical and apostolical 
Scriptures, and from thence drinks his faith." 
(De Praes. H8eret.,c. 26. Patrologi3e,vol. 2, p. 58). 

Irenseus, A. D. 17T, says: "We ought to leave 
all such questions to God who made us, knowing 
most rightly that the Scriptures are truly 2yeif'fe<^t', 
since they were dictated by the Word of God and 
His Spirit.'.' (Contra Hsereses, lib. 2, c. xxviii., 
sec. 2. Patrologige, vol. 7, pp. 804, 805). 

Clement of Alexandria, A. D. 217, says: "For 
we may not give our adhesion to men on a bare 
statement by them, who might equally state the 
opposite. But if it is not enough merely to state 
the opinion, but if what is stated must be con- 
firmed, we do not wait for the testimony of men, 
but we establish the matter that is in question by 
the voice of the Lord, which is the surest of all 
demonstrations, or, rather, is the only demonstra- 
tion; in which knowledge thou who have merely 



ROME AND THE BIBLE. 179 

tasted Scriptures are believers." (Stromata, lib. 
vii. , c. 16. Patrologige, vol. 9, 534). 

Origen, A. D. 184-254, says: "He (the well- 
instructed Christian) knows that the whole Scrip- 
ture is a perfect and apt instrument of God, which 
utters one harmony from many sounds to those 
who wish to learn the voice of salvation. " (Evan- 
gel. Mat., tom. I., pp. 204, 205). 

Cyprian, A. D. 250, says: "From whence is 
this tradition? Has it descended from the divine 
authority of the gospel, or does it come from the 
commands and epistles of the apostles? For God 
testifies that those things are to be done which are 
written. ... If, therefore, it is ordered in 
the gospel, or is contained in the epistles or acts 
of the apostles, that thou who came from any 
heresy shall not be baptized, but shall only have 
the impartation of hands in penitence, let this 
divine and holy tradition be observed." (Epist. 
Ixxiii.). 

Athanasius, A. D. 278-373, says: "For the 
orthodox church, rightly reading and exactly ex- 
amining the divine Scriptures, builds herself upon 
the Rock, that church which is the perfect dove, 
which holds a rule of a right and pious faith in the 
apostolic vessel, while the vast waves dash upon 
the immovable Hock, and, cast backward upon 
themselves, disappear in foam. And such waves 



180 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

are all heresies." (Contra Omnes Hsereses, Pat- 
rologise, vol. 28, p. 525). 

Cyril of Jerusalem, A. D. 315-386, says: 
"But in learning the faith and professing it, ac- 
quire and keep that only which is now delivered 
thee by the Church, and which has been built up 
strongly out of all the Scriptures. For, since all 
can not read the Scriptures, some being hindered 
as to the knowledge of them by want of learning 
and others by a want of leisure, in order that the 
soul may not perish from ignorance, we comprise 
the whole doctrine of the faith in a few lines. 
I wish you also to keep this as a pro- 
vision through the whol6 course of your life, and 
besides this to receive no other, neither if we our- 
selves should change and contradict our present 
teaching, nor if an adverse angel, transformed 
into an angel of light, should wish to lead you 
astray. For, though we or an angel from heaven 
preach to you any other gospel than that we have 
received, let him be to you anathema. So, for 
the present, simply listen while I say the creed, 
and commit it to memory; but at the proper sea 
son expect the confirmation out of the holy Scrip 
ture of each part of the contents. For the articles 
of the faith were not composed as seemed good to 
men; but the most important parts collected out 
of the Scripture make up one complete teaching 



ROME AND THE BIBLE. 181 

of the faith." (De Fide et Symbolo, c. xii. Pat- 
rologise, vol. 33, p. 519). 

Ambrose, A. D. 340-395, says: "All truth 
is in the New Testament." (Ex. Ps. 118:37. 
Patrologise, vol. 15, p. 1541). 

Jerome, A. D. 340-420, who was the trans- 
lator of the Vulgate, says: "Our care is to say, 
not what any one can or may, but what the Scrip- 
tures authorize." (Patrologiae, vol. 23, p. 84). 

Augustine, A. D. 353-430, says: "The City 
of God (the Church) believes the holy Scriptures, 
both New and Old, which we call canonical, from 
which the faith itself is conceived by which the 
just man liveth, by which we walk without doubt- 
fulness, so long as we are absent from the Lord; 
which faith being safe and certain, we may doubt 
without censure concerning other things, which 
we do not perceive either by the sense of reason, 
which are not made clear to us by the canonical 
Scriptures, nor brought under our notice by wit- 
nesses whom it is absurd not to credit." (De 
Civitate Dei. Patrologise, vol. 41, p. 646). 

The fathers made their appeal to the Scriptures 
and that appeal was final. They did more. They 
were contrary to the spirit of Rome, in that they 
translated the Bible into many living languages, 
and did all they could to circulate it and have it 
read. There was no printing press in those days, 



% 



182 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

but all possible pains were taken to have the Scrip- 
tures transcribed. Constantine instructed Euse- 
bius to have copies of the Scriptures prepared. 
He gave orders that everything necessary to the 
transcribing the Scriptures should be allowed to 
Eusebius. The emperor further stated: '*Do you, 
therefore, receive with all readiness my determi- 
nation on this behalf. I have thought it expedient 
to instruct your Prudence to order fifty copies of 
the sacred Scriptures, the provision and use of 
which you know to be most needful for the in- 
struction of the Church, to be written on pre- 
pared parchment in a legible manner, and in a 
convenient, portable form, by professional trans- 
cribers, thoroughly practiced in their art." (Life 
Constantine, lib; lY., c. xxxvi.). 

By the fifth century the Bible had been trans- 
lated into most of the languages of the earth, and 
there were no restrictions put upon the reading of 
the Word of God. Theodoret, a Syrian bishop, 
is pleased to say: . ''The Hebrew Scriptures are 
not only translated into the language of the Gre- 
cians^ but also of the Komans, the Indians, Per- 
sians, Armenians, Sythians, Samaritans, Egypt- 
ians; and, in a word, into all the languages that 
are used by any nation." 



ROME AND THE BIBLE. 183 

ADDITIONS TO THE BIBLE. 

2. The Koman Catholic Church has added to 
the Bible many things as of equal authority with 
it. I mention: 

The Apocrypha. Everybody knows that these 
books are filled with foolish stories, are no part 
of the Bible and were not so recognized by early 
writers. It is from these books that Rome proves 
some of her pet doctrines. I shall mention but 
one ancient writer, but that one is authoritative 
with Roman Catholics. He was the translator of 
their Yulgate. Jerome, in speaking of the books 
of Ecclesiasticus, the book of Wisdom, Judith, 
Tobit, and the books of the Maccabees, says: 
^'The Church, indeed, reads them, but does not 
receive them among the canonical books, only 
reading them for the edification of the people and 
not for the confirmation of ecclesiastical doctrine. " 
(Tom. 3, p. 18). And in another place he calls 
the History of Susannah, the Song of the Three 
Children, Bel and the Dragon "fables.'' (Tom. 
2, p. 154). 

Rome has added to the Bible the authority of 
oral tradition. The Little Catechism which is 
taught to Roman Catholics as the law of God, 
says: 

"Q. Is it not enough for one to read the holy 



134 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

[Scriptures and to believe only what he can find 
in them? 

"A. No; for two reasons. First, because the 
Word of God is not contained in the Bible alone, 
but also in the tradition of the Church; and, 
secondly, because the Church is the only author- 
ized teacher and interpreter of the Word of God. " 
(The Mission-Book, p. 325). 

The Council of Trent decreed: "The oral tra- 
ditions of the Catholic Church are to be received 
with equal piety and reverence as the books of 
the Old and New Testament. " (Council of Trent, 
session iv.). 

Just think for a moment what that means. 
These traditions include the acts and decisions of 
the Church, embracing eight folio volumes of the 
pope's Bulls, ten folio volumes of Decretals, 
thirty-one folio volumes of the Acts of the Coun- 
cils,fifty-one folio volumes of the Acta-Sanctorium, 
or Doings and Sayings of the Saints. Add to 
this not less than thirty-five volumes of the Greek 
iind Latin fathers, from which they must have 
unanimous consent. Add to these thirty-five 
volumes the chaos of tradition which has accumu- 
lated since. The exposition of every priest and 
bishop must be added. No Catholic living can 
declare his faith. An honest student could not 



ROME AND THE BIBLE. 



185 



•O 

■^ 

o 

> 

I— I 

!^ 
Q 
t^ 
O 



m i|,,n|»^jmpMBii],i' j||]||if5fiiii|;iiri!ii||;j>;,:;|j|,win^ 



i&'J#',o,;'ti,, 




li;:lL;''Jibi'ul!;3jyv 



186 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

find out in a lifetime what a Catholic ought ta 
believe. 

3. The Roman Catholic Church annuls the 
Word of God by declaring that the Church must 
be the living expositor of the Bible. A man is 
not allowed to think for himself. To become a 
Catholic a man must become an intellectual im- 
becile and accept all things without investigation. 
He must read the Bible only as Rome interprets 
it. Cardinal Gibbons says: "Now, the Scripture 
is the great depository of the Word of God. 
Therefore, the Church is the divinely appointed 
Custodian and Interpreitt^r of the Bible. For her 
office of infallible Guide were superfluous if each 
individual could interpret the Bible for himself. 
That God never intended the Bible to be the 
Christian's rule of faith, independently of the 
living authority of the Church, will be the subject 
of this chapter." (Faith of Our Fathers, p. 94). 

The Creed of Pope Fius IX. , to which every 
Catholic must assent, reads: "I also admit the 
sacred Scriptures, according to the sense in which 
the holy mother Church has held and does hold, 
to whom it belongs to judge of the true sense and 
interpretation of the holy Scriptures; or will I 
ever take or interpret them otherwise than accord- 
ing to the unanimous consent of the fathers." 

But a greater than Gibbons, a greater than the 



ROME AND THE BIBLE. 18T 

pope, an infallible council has spoken. The 
Council of Trent decreed: "It belongs to the 
Church to judge of the sense and interpretation 
of Scripture; and that no person shall dare 
to interpret it in matters relating to faith and 
matters of any sense contrary to that which the 
Church has held, contrary to the unanimous con- 
sent of the fathers. " (Council of Trent, session iv.). 
This is regularly taught to their children. The 
Mission-Book says: "Let no one say, I can read 
the word of God for myself in the Bible ; of what 
use is preaching to me? What! Do you care to 
think that a human mind like yours, created, 
limited, and full of darkness, is able, of itself, to 
comprehend the mind of the eternal God? O! 
beware, that you do not substitute your own 
thought for that of God. No, dear Christian, the 
Church of the living God alone, guided and en- 
lightened as it is by the Holy Ghost, is able to 
know the mind of God with infallible certainty, 
and to interpret the holy Scriptures without dan- 
ger or error. She it is who announces to us the 
true doctrine of Jesus Christ by her bishops and 
their fellow laborers, the priests, and they are the 
teachers to whom we must listen, unless we are 
willing, through a spirit of pride, to expose our- 
selves to most dangerous errors." (The Mission- 
Book, p. 58). 



188 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

Bishop Spottswood pnts this in very strong 
words. He says: "I would rather one-half the 
people of this nation should be brought to the 
stake and burned, than one man should read the 
Bible and form his judgment from its contents." 

A man can not be a Catholic and have an 
opinion of his own on the subject of the Bible. 

4. Rome has decided against the Scriptures in 
the original Greek, and has declared as authentic 
a Latin translation full of errors. The Council of 
Trent decreed: ''Moreover, the- same most holy 
council, considering that no small advantage will 
accrue to the Church of God if, of all the Latin 
editions of the sacred books which are in circula- 
tion, some one shall be distinguished as that 
which ought to be regarded as authentic, doth or- 
dain and declare that the same old and Yulgate 
edition, which has been approved of by its use in 
the Church for many ages, shall be held as au- 
thentic, in all public lectures, sermons and expo- 
sitions; and that no one shall dare to presume to 
reject it, under any pretense whatsoever.'' (Coun- 
cil of Trent, session iv.). 

The Yulgate, at the time that it was adopted as 
authentic, was full of the most mischievous errors. 
Dr. Jahn, an eminent Roman Catholic, was led to 
say: "The more learned Catholics have never 
denied the existence of errors in the Yulgate; on 



ROME AND THE BIBLE. 189 

the contrary, Isadore Clarius collected eighty- 
thousand." (Introduction to Old Testament, 
sec. 65). 

Twenty years dia not pass after the Council of 
Trent till Sixtus Y. had great trouble with the 
Yulgate. It was full of acknowledged errors. 
He employed learned men to correct it, and then 
published his edition with this bull: "We have 
corrected it with our own hand . . . and 
from our certain knowledge, and from the pleni- 
tude of apostolic power, we deem that this Latin 
Yulgate edition of the sacred page of the Old as 
well as the New Testament, is to be esteemed, 
without any doubt or controversy, as thoroughly 
amended as it can be." 

Yet only two years passed till Pope Clement 
YIII. was compelled to call in the edition of 
Sixtus Y. on account of errors and put out an- 
other, which is the present standard edition. 
The preface expressly states: "Although some 
things were advisedly changed from the common 
reading, there were others, which seem to require 
a change, advisedly suffered to remain unaltered." 
Now that is rich. Eighty thousand errors is a 
large number to be in a book that is to be regarded 
as authentic, and especially as we are not to "pre- 
sume to reject it under any pretense whatsoever." 

5. The Roman Catholic Church has never 



190 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

printed nor circulated a cheap Bible. When a 
Catholic Bible is exposed for sale it is at such a 
price few can afford to buy it. The cheapest 
Catholic Bible I could find, not long since, in 
Louisville, was eight dollars. In Mexico I 
was not able to buy one at all. In Rome 
before the present administration came into 
power, when the pope was ruler of the land, a 
Bible could scarcely be secured at any price. I 
liave two reputable witnesses. The Kev. J. A. 
Clark, of the Protestant Episcopal church, St. 
Andrews, Philadelphia, in a letter from Rome, 
March 24, 1838, wrote: "The Bible in Rome is 
a strange and rare book. The only edition of it 
authorized to be sold here is in fifteen large vol- 
umes, which are filled with popish commentaries. 
Of course, none but the rich can purchase a copy 
of the sacred Scriptures. Indeed, very few of 
the common people here know what we mean by 
the Bible." 

The Rev. W. M. Seymour says: "This law is 
always in force. And although it speaks of Cath- 
olic editions, there is only one such to be found 
in Italy — that by Martini, which is in twenty- 
three volumes. These, however, could be bound 
in four or six substantial volumes, sufficiently 
cumbrous and inconvenient. 

"The price for which it is sold is absolutely 



ROME AND THE BIBLE. 191 

prohibitive. I could not procure one at Rome, 
in 1845, for less than 105 francs; that is, pre- 
cisely four guineas. The prohibitive nature of 
this price may be seen from the fact that four 
guineas is regarded as high wages, by the year, 
for a servant girl in Rome; so that she would 
have to give a whole year's wages for a copy of 
the Scriptures." (Evenings With the Romanists, 
p. 80). 

These conditions are true of every popish land 
on earth. 



THE SCKIPTUKES PROHIBITED. 

6. The Roman Catholic Church has either pro- 
hibited the circulation of the Scriptures, or has 
thrown such proscriptions around them as to pre- 
vent their general circulation. I shall present 
some facts which will prove these charges beyond 
a doubt. 

The Council of Toulouse, A. D. 1229, ''pro- 
liibited laymen to have the books of the Old and 
New Testament, unless a Psalter, a Breviary, 
and a Rosary, and they forbade their translation 
into the vulgar tongue." (Labbe,vol.l3,p.l239). 

Indeed, as early as 1234, the Synod of Tarra- 
gona, denounced as a heretic any one who having 
R translation of the Bible, refused to surrender it 



192 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

to be burned within the space of eight days, 
(Library Ilniver. Knowl., vol. 2, p. 516). 

Wickliffe's version was declared by Pope 
Gregory, in a bull to the University of Oxford, 
A. D. 1378, as having "run into a detestable 
kind of wickedness." One of the canons of 
Leicester said: "Master John Wickliffe has trans- 
lated the gospel out of Latin into English, which 
Christ has entrusted to the clergy and doctors of 
the Church, that they might minister it to the 
laity and the weaker sort, according to the state 
of the times and the wants of men. So that by 
this means the gospel is made vulgar^ and laid 
more open to the laity^ and even the women who 
can read^ than it used to be even to the most 
learned of the clergy and those of the best under- 
standing. And what was before the chief gift of 
the clergy and doctors of the Church is made for- 
ever common to the laity." (Anderson's Annals 
of the English Bible, p. 21). 

Archbishop Warham, A. D. 1530, issued a 
proclamation against the printing of English 
translations of the Bible. He says: "And, 
whereas, report is made by many of our subjects 
that it were to all men not only expedient but 
also necessary to have m the English tongue both 
the Old and New Testament, and that his High- 
ness, his nobles and prelates were bounden to 



ROME AND THE BIBLE. 193 

suffer them so to have it; his Highness hath there- 
fore semblably thereupon consulted with the said 
primates and other personages well versed in 
divinity ; and b j them all it is thought that it is 
not necessary the said Scripture to be in the Eng- 
lish tongue and in the hands of the common peo- 
ple; and that, having respect to the malignity 
of this present time, with the inclination of the 
people to erroneous opinions, the translation of 
the Bible into the vulgar English should rather 
be the occasion of continuance or increase of 
errors among the said people than any benefit or 
commodity to the weal of their souls." (Wilk., 
III., p. 741). 

Tyndale's version was condemned by the Ro- 
man Church in 1546. 

The Encyclopaedia Britannica is very conclu- 
sive on this point. It says: "Several of the 
early translations of the Bible were suppressed. 
Tyndale's version among others. As many copies 
of that book as the superior clergy could buy up^ 
were publicly burned at St. Paul's, on Shrove 
Tuesday, 1527, Fisher, bishop of Rochester, 
preaching a sermon on the occasion." (Encyc. 
Brit., vol. 3, p. 659). 

In Knight's great History of England, p. 247, 

may be found the following: "Many copies of 

Tyndale's translation (of the New Testament) had 
13 



194 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

been brought into the country, which books the 
common people used and daily read privily; 
which the clergy would not admit, for they pun- 
ished such persons as had read, studied or taught 
the same, with extremity. Wolsey (a Catholic 
bishop) made strenuous efforts to restrain the 
printing of the Scriptures in the people's tongue. 
Which led to the burning of the English Testa- 
ment in St. Paul's church yard." 

Pope Leo X. published a yile bull against 
Luther when he translated the Bible into German. 

In a mandate A. D. 1526, Archbishop Warham 
complains that "some children of iniquity and 
partisans of the Lutheran faction had cunningly 
and deceitfully translated into the English tongue, 
not only the holy gospels, but the other parts of 
the New Testament; instilling pernicious and 
scandalous heresies into the minds of the simple 
and profaning the hitherto unsullied majesty of 
the holy Scriptures by nefarious and distorted 
comments." All who possess such translations 
are therefore enjoined, on pain of ecclesiastical 
censures, to deliver them to the diocesan within 
thirty days, that they might be committed to the 
flames. (Hart's Eccl. Records, pp. 396, 39T). 

The Synod of Ely, A. D. 1528, decreed: "That 
the rectors and curates of the diocese of Ely shall 
on no account use in their churches the Bible ac- 



ROME AND THE BIBLE. 195 

cording to the new translation, or suffer any of 
those who frequent their churches to use it." 
(Wilk., iii., p. 719). 

The Spanish Inquisition solemnly condemned 
the Bible of Pope Sixtus Y. 

Pope Clement XI., in his famous bull, Unigeni- 
tus^ A. D. 1713, condemned the French New 
Testament of Quesnel as false, captious, shock- 
ing, offensive to pious ears, scandalous, per- 
nicious, rash, seditious, impious, blasphemous. He 
further condemns that "it is useful and necessary, 
at all times, in all places, and for all sorts of 
persons, to study and know the spirit, piety and 
mysteries of the Scriptures. The reading of the 
Bible is for all." 

The Council of Trent put so many proscriptions 
around the Bible that it practically prohibits the 
reading of the Scriptures. The ten "rules for 
prohibited books" adopted by the Council of 
Trent were confirmed by Pius lY. March 24,1564. 
The fourth rule is: "Since it is clear from experi- 
ence that if the holy Scriptures are everywhere 
indiscriminately permitted in the vulgar tongue^ 
more detriment than profit arises therefrom by 
reason of the rashness of men. In this matter 
let it be the option of the bishop or inquisitor, so 
that with the advice of the parish priest, or the 
confessor, they can permit to them the reading of 



196 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

books translated by Catholic authors in the vulgar 
tongue, even to such persons as, in their judg- 
ment, would occur no loss, but obtain an increase 
of faith and piety from this kind of reading, which 
power they may have in respect to the Scriptures. 
But whoever shall presume to 'keep or read them 
without such power ^ let him not he able to ohtain 
the ahsolution of his sins until the hoohs are re- 
turned to the ordinary. But the bookseller who 
shall sell the Bible, written in the vulgar tongue, 
to any one not having the aforesaid power, or who 
shall grant it in any other way, shall forfeit the 
price of the books that it may be converted by the 
bishop to pious uses and they shall be subject 
to other punishments at the discretion of the 
same bishop, according to the character of the 
crime. But regulars may not read or buy them 
unless they have obtained authority from those 
placed over them." (Canones et Decret. Cone. 
Trent, p. 232). 

We have the famous words of Carranza as to 
the prohibition of the reading of the Scriptures in 
Italy and Spain. Carranza says: "Before the 
heresies of Luther had come from the infernal 
regions to the light of this world, I do not know 
that the holy Scriptures in the vulgar tongue were 
anywhere forbidden. In Spain Bibles were trans- 
lated into it by order of the Catholic sovereigns,, 



ROME AND THE BIBLE. 197 

at the time when the Moors and Jews were al- 
lowed to live among the Christians according to 
their own law. After the expulsion of the Jews 
from Spain, the judges of religion found that 
some of those who had been converted to our 
holy faith instructed their children in Judaism, 
and taught them the ceremonies of the law of 
Moses by means of those Bibles in the vulgar 
tongue, which they took care to have printed in 
Italy, in the town of Ferrara. This is the real 
cause why Bibles in the vulgar tongue were for- 
bidden in Spain; but the possession and reading 
of them were always allowed to colleges and 
monasteries, as well as to persons of distinction 
above all suspicion, " Carranza continues to give, 
in a few words, the history of these prohibitions 
in Germany, France, and other countries; then 
he adds: "In Spain, which was, and still is, by 
the grace and goodness of God, pure from the 
cockle, care was taken to forbid generally all the 
translations of the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue, 
in order to prevent strangers having an oppor- 
tunity of holding controversy with simple and 
ignorant persons, and also because they had, and 
still have, experience of certain particular cases, 
and of the errors which began to arise in Spain 
from the ill understood reading of certain pas- 
sages of the Bible. What I have just stated is the 



198 • AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

real history of what took place; this is why the 
Bible is prohibited in the vulgar tongue." (Pro- 
logue to Christian Catechism). 

The Rev. J. Balmes, a Catholic, commenting 
on this passage, says: "This, curious passage 
from Carranza shows us, in few words, the prog- 
ress of things. At first there was no prohibition ; 
but the abuse committed by the Jews provoked 
one, although still confined, as we have just seen, 
in certain limits. Afterwards came the Prot- 
estants, upsetting all Europe by means of their 
Bibles; Spain is- threatened with the introduction 
of the new errors; it is discovered that some per- 
sons have been misled by the false interpretations 
of certain passages of the Bible they were com- 
pelled to take away this weapon from these 
strangers, who attempted to use it to seduce sim- 
ple people; from that time the prohibition becomes 
vigorous and general." (Protestantism Com- 
pared with Catholicity, p. 165). 

Besides the fact that the Bible was prohibited 
in Spain and other countries, this passage would 
go to show that the Catholi^cs do not think that 
the reading of the Bible is likely to make con- 
verts to their Church. 

Pope Pius YII. issued a bull June 29, 1816, 
against Bible Societies which were operating in 
Poland. I shall quote somewhat freely from this 



ROME AND THE BIBLE. 199 

bull. The pope says: "We have been truly 
shocked at this most crafty device, by which the 
very foundations of religion are undermined; 
having, because of the great importance of the 
subject, conferred m counsel with our venerable 
brethren, the cardinals of the Holy Roman 
Church, with the utmost care and attention, de- 
liberated upon the measures proper to be adopted 
by our pontificial authority, in order to remedy 
and abolish this pestilence as far as possible. In 
the meantime, we heartily congratulate you, ven- 
erable brother, and we commend you again and 
-again m the Lord, as it is fit that we should upon 
the singular zeal that you have displayed under 
circumstances so dangerous to Christianity, in 
having denounced to the Apostolic See this defile- 
ment of the faith so eminently dangerous to souls. 
And, although we perceive that it is not at all 
necessary to excite him to activity who is making 
haste, since of your own accord you have already 
shown an ardent desire to detect and overthrow 
the impious machinations, yet, in conformity 
with our office, we again and again exhort you 
that whatever you can achieve by power, provide 
for by counsel, or effect by authority, you will 
daily execute with the utmost earnestness, pla- 
cing yourself as a wall for the house of Israel. 
"With this view we issue the present brief, 



200 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

namely, that we may convey to you a signal tes- 
timony of our approbation of your excellent con- 
duct, and also may endeavor therein still more 
and more to excite your pastoral solicitude and 
diligence; for the general good imperiously re- 
quires you to combine all of your means and 
energies to frustrate the plans which are prepared 
by its enemies for the destruction of our most 
holy religion; whence it becomes an episcopal 
duty that you, first of all, expose the wickedness 
of this nefarious scheme, as you have already 
done so admirably, to the view of the faithful, 
and openly publish the same, according to the 
rules prescribed by the Church, with all the erudi- 
tion and wisdom which you possess, namely, 
'that the Bible printed by heretics is to be num- 
bered among other prohibited books, comform- 
able to the rules of the Index (See 2:3); for it is 
evident from experience that the holy Scriptures, 
when circulated in the vulgar tongue, have, 
through the temerity of men, produced more 
harm than benefit' (rule 4). And this is the more 
to be dreaded in times so depraved, when our 
holy religion is assailed from every quarter with 
great cunning and effort, and the most grievous 
wounds are inflicted on our Church. It is there- 
fore necessary for us to adhere to the salutary de- 
cree of the Congregation of the Index (June 13, 



ROME AND THE BIBLE. 201 

1757,), that no versions of the Bible in the vulgar 
tongue be permitted, except such as are approved 
by the Apostolic See, or published with annota- 
tions extracted from the writings of holy fathers 
of the Church." Given at Rome, at St. Mary 
the Greater, June 29, 1816, the seventeenth year 
of our pontificate. Pius, P., YII. (McGavin's 
Protestant, vol. 1, p. 572). 

We have another bull of Pius YII., Septem- 
ber 18, 1819, in regard to Irish schools and the 
•circulation of the Bible. He says: "The pre- 
diction of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the parable 
of the sower, the good seed fell in the fields, but, 
while people slept, his enemy came and sowed 
tares upon, the wheat, is, to the very great injury, 
indeed, of the Catholic faith, and can be verified 
in these, our days, particularly in Ireland, for in- 
iormation has reached the ears of the sacred Con- 
gregation that 'Bible schools, ' supported by funds 
of the heterodox, have been established in almost 
every part of Ireland, in which, under pretense of 
charity, the inexperienced of both sexes, but par- 
ticularly peasants and paupers, are deluded by 
the blandishments, and even the gifts of the mas- 
ters, and invested with the fatal poison of depraved 
doctrines. It is further stated, that the directors 
of these schools are, generally speaking, Metho- 
■dists, who introduce Bibles, translated into Eng- 



202 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

lish by the 'Bible Society,' and abounding in 
errors, with the sole view of seducing the youth, 
and entirely eradicating from their minds the 
truth of the orthodox faith. Under these circum- 
stances, your lordship already perceives with 
what solicitude and attention pastors are bound to 
watch, and carefully protect their flocks from the 
snares of wolves, who come in the clothing of 
sheep,'' 

His successor, Fope Leo XII., May 3, 1824, 
said to the Irish clergy: "It is no secret to you, 
venerable brethren, that a certain society, vulgarly 
called the 'Bible Society, ' is audaciously dispread- 
ing itself through the whole world. After de- 
spising the traditions of the holy fathers, and in 
opposition to the well-known decree of the Council 
of Trent, the society has collected all of its forces, 
and directs every means to one object, to the 
translation, or, rather, to the perversion of the 
Bible into the vernacular languages of all nations. 
From this fact there is strong ground of fear, lest, 
as in some instances already known, so likewise 
in the rest, through a perverse interpretation, 
there be framed out of the gospel of Christ a 
gospel of man, or, what is worse, a gospel of the 
devil." 

Gregory XYL, May 25, 1844, declared: 
"Amongst the principal machinations by which in 



ROME AND THE BIBLE. 203 

this our age, the non-Catholics of various names 
endeavor to ensnare the adherents of Catholic 
truth, and to turn away their minds from the holi- 
ness of the faith, a prominent position is held by 
the Bible Societies. These Societies, first insti- 
tuted in England, and since extended far and wide, 
we now behold in one united phalanx, conspiring 
for this object, to translate the books of the 
divine Scriptures into all the vulgar tongues, to 
issue immense numbers of copies, to disseminate 
them indiscriminately among Christians and in- 
fidels, and to entice every individual to peruse 
them without any guide. Nothing is more likely 
to happen, than that in versions of them multi- 
plied by the Bible Societies, the most grievous 
errors may be introduced, by the ignorance or 
fraud of so many interpreters. ... To these 
Societies, however, it matters little, or nothing, 
into what errors the persons who read the Bible 
translated into the vulgar tongues may fall, pro- 
vided they be gradually accustomed to claim for 
themselves a free judgment of the sense of the 
Scriptures, to contemn the Divine Traditions as 
taught by the Fathers and preserved in the Cath- 
olic Church, and even to repudiate the Church's 
directions. To this end these members of Bible 
Societies cease not to calumniate the Church and 
this holy See of Peter. . . . We have, how- 



204 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

ever, great cause to congratulate you, venerable 
brethren, that, at the impulse of your own piety 
and with unbounded zeal to prevent the wheat 
from being choked by the tares." 

When a missionary, Mr. Isaac Wheelright, 
February 8, 1838, had circulated some Bibles in 
South America, Nicolas, Bishop of Quinto, wrote 
the Secretary of the Interior. He said: "The 
accompanying papers impugn these pernicious 
maxims, and will convince the supreme govern- 
ment that the circulation of the Bibles and tracts 
alluded to ought to be prevented. They will also 
inflame the zeal to cut up by the roots this crying 
enormity." 

Even the late Pope Pius IX. expressed his 
anguish of heart at the triumph on every hand of 
this great enemy of anti-Christ — the Bible. He 
said: "Accursed be those very crafty and deceit- 
ful societies called Bible Societies, which thrust 
the Bible into the hands of the inexperienced 
youth." 

The British and Foreign Bible Society proposed 
to publish the Douay version for free distribution. 
The Catholic reply was: "The English Catholic 
Board did not now intend to dispense gratuitously 
even their own stereotype edition with notes; for 
they could not go about to desire persons to receive 
Testaments, because the Catholics did not in any 



ROME AND THE BIBLE. 205 

wise consider the Scriptures necessary. They 
learned and taught their religion by means of 
catechisms and elementary tracts." (Glasgow 
Protestant, vol. 1, p. 253). 

Pope Leo XIII., in a letter to the Yicar Gen- 
eral in Rome, June 26, 1878, said: "Here tem- 
ples of Protestants, which have arisen with the 
money of Bible Societies, likewise in the most 
populous streets, as if by way of insult; here 
schools, asylums and hospices, open to incau- 
tious youth with the apparent philanthropic inten- 
tion of assisting them in the culture of the mind 
and in their material wants, but with the true aim 
of forming of them a generation inimical to the 

religion and to the Church of Christ 

These heretical sects, which are now welcomed 
with such honors, are endeavoring with the as- 
sistance of these godless societies, to shake that 
rock against which holy Scripture declares the 
gates of hell shall not prevail." 

Henry Lassarre, of France, in 1887, in his pre- 
face to the Bible, remarks: ''The greater part of 
the children of the Church know the divine books 
only by the fragments contained in the prayer 
book," and he adds: "the gospel, the most known 
book among us, not three believers in each parish 
have studied it. The Bible is not always so neg- 
lected. . . . We must lead the faithful to 



206 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

the fountain of living water which flows from the 
inspired book. We must make them hear, taste 
and relish the direct lessons of the Saviour's 
words. . . . It is a notorious fact that the 
gospels are hardly ever read by those who pro- 
fess to be Catholics, and never by the multitude 
of the faithful." 

The Second Plenary Council, held in Balti- 
more, in 1866, urged the clergy to "keep away 
from their own flocks the Bibles corrupted by non- 
Catholics, and permit them to pick out the uncor- 
rupted food of the Word of God only from ap- 
proved versions and editions." 

Even the sweet-spirited Fenelon considered 
Bible reading as dangerous to the laity. 

McGuire, a representative Catholic, in his de- 
bate with Fope, says: "The royal prophet 
laughed at the gods of the Gentiles, because they 
speak; those who make the Scriptures the sole 
judge of controversies expose them to similar 
contempt, because, at the best, they are but a 
dumb judge, and, consequently, unable to pro- 



nounce." 



Der Wahrheist Freund^ the German organ of 
the Roman Catholic Church, published in Cincin- 
nati, February 7, 1839, says: "Bible Societies 
have, in thinking Christians, produced a just sus- 
picion that their zeal, which may place hypocrites, 



ROME AND THE BIBLE. 207 

has for its foundation some secret, sinister inten- 
tions. However that may be, so much is incon- 
trovertibly true, that those very persons, and 
those very nations, which have the cheapest Bibles 
can least agree in regard to religion, and are the 
most hostile to each other — that this unlimited 
reading of the Bible has originated and still does 
originate, especially in our fanatical America, the 
most absurd abortions of phrensy and even scenes 
of horrible crime. This is the verdict of experi- 
ence, the judgment of the whole cultivated world. " 
In Barcelona, Spain, by order of the govern- 
ment, a large number of copies of the Bible were 
recently burned — of course, at the instigation of 
the Church of Rome. The following, translated 
from the Catholic Banner^ the organ of papacy 
there, shows that they approved and appreciated 
the action. It said: "Thank God, we at last 
have turned toward the times when those who 
propagated heretical doctrines were punished with 
exemplary punishment. The reestablishment of 
the holy tribunal of the Inquisition must soon 
take place. Its reign will be more glorious and 
fruitful in results than in the past. Our Catholic 
heart overflows with faith and enthusiasm; and 
the immense joy we experience, as we begin to 
reap the fruit of our present campaign, exceeds 
all imagination. What a day of pleasure will 



208 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

that be for us, when we see anti-clericals writhing 
in the flames of Inquisition!" 

The Rev. John L. Brandt, in a recent verj 
able book upon "America or Rome, Christ or the 
Pope," sajs: "They have 

BUKNED OTJR BIBLES. 

In November, 1842, several Jesuit missionaries held 
a protracted meeting in the town of Champlain, 
N. Y. A large number of Catholics from the 
adjoining towns and county attended the meeting. 
After the meetings were in progress for several 
days, an order was issued, requiring all who had 
Bibles to bring them to the priest, and on the 27th 
of October a large number of Bibles, more than 
one hundred, were brought out from the priest's 
home and placed in a pile in the open yard, and 
fire was set to them, and they were burned to 
ashes. This was done in open day in the State 
of New York, and in the presence of many spec- 
tators. These Bibles were given to the Catholics 
by the agent of a Bible Society. Immediately 
meetings of the Protestants were held throughout 
the county and resolutions were passed expressing 
strong indignation as the insult offered to God 
and His Book in our country. I have in my pos- 
session a copy of the affidavit of four prominent 
citizens of Champlain, N. Y., in which they tes- 



ROME AND THE BIBLE. 209' 

tify to the truth of this account of Bible burning. 
Of course, the priest in charge denied it, and 
added in his denial: 'It would be better to burn 
such translation of the Bible than to give it to 
grocers and dealers to wrap their wares in. ' 

"In the year 1854, the Catholics also burned 
Bibles in York, Penn. The priest returned a 
Bible to the agent of the society, with a note, 
which closed with the following statement: 'If 1 
find more such Bibles, I will not send them back, 
but I will burn them, for they are worthy of it. "^ 

"The agent for the American Bible Society in 
Chili, in the year 1835, saw New Testaments, 
without notes, publicly and ceremoniously burned 
by priests in the public square of one of the cities. 
Kev. J. C. Brigham, writing from Chili, states 
that he saw a large number of copies of the New 
Testament, that had been issued by the American 
Bible Society, burned with great pomp and cere- 
mony; and adds that the outrage was public, and 
instead of being disowned was openly defended, 
and done in compliance with the decree of an in- 
fallible Council. As late as 1867 Bibles were 
burned in Brazil by priests who found them in the 
homes of their parishioners, where agents f or 
foreign Bib]e Societies had left them. 

"Mr. Charles Chiniquy, who is now residing 

in Montreal, states when he was a child that the 
14 



210 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

priest came to his father's home and demanded 
the Bible which Mr. Chiniquj and his child had 
been reading. The priest said: 'You know it is 
my painful duty to come here and get the Bible 
from you and burn it.' His visit resulted in 
arousing the ire of Mr. Chiniquy, who ordered 
him to leave the house. 

"I have confined my remarks on the subject of 
'Bible burning' to events that occurred in this 
century, and, sir, I need not go out of the State 
of Ohio to find a man who will testify that a Prot- 
estant Bible was taken out of his hands by a big- 
oted Romanist and thrown into the fire. If Prot- 
estants would burn the Bibles that bear the ap- 
proval of the pope, and do it publicly, and in a 
land where Catholics are numerous, it is highly 
probable that blood would be shed. I must con- 
fess that I am afraid of every influence that is 
afraid of the Bible. Every influence that shuts 
out this great light is a dangerous influence." 
(Pp. 225, 226). 

7. The Bible is not used as a text-book in a 
single Roman Catholic seminary on earth where 
the priesthood are educated. Parts of it are used, 
but in no Catholic institution, where priests are 
educated, is the whole Bible used as a text-book. 
The Catholic priesthood have no profound under- 
standing of the Word of God. 1 can further add 



ROME AND THE BIBLE. 211 

that a large number C)f the priests do not possess 
a copy of the Word of God. I go further, and 
declare upon the authority of an infallible council 
that a priest has no right to read the Bible except 
by permission of his superiors. The Council of 
Trent decreed: "The regular clergy can not read 
them (the Scriptures) or purchase them, unless 
with the permission of the prelates." 

8. Eome claims that she preserved the Bible to 
the world. There are three ancient manuscripts 
of the Bible in existence, and only one of them 
ever fell into the hands of Home. I let Prof. 
C. E. Stowe tell what Rome did with it. He says: 
' 'The Vatican library in Rome was established 
about A. D. 14:50, and the Vatican manuscript 
became one of its treasures, with but little known 
of its previous history. This manuscript has lost 
several of its leaves, the epistles to Philemon, 
Titus, the two to Timothy, the latter part of the 
letter to Hebrews and the Apocalypse are all 
wanting. The Papal Court has never allowed to 
scholars the free use of it. In 1810 Napoleon 
carried it to Paris, but the Duke of Wellington 
had it returned at a later date. In 1843, Tisch- 
endorf went to Rome to examine it. It was 
locked in a drawer, and it was months before he 
got a sight of it; and then with two prelati to 
watch him, he was allowed to look at it on two 



212 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

separate days, three hours each day, but was 
previously searched and deprived of pen, ink and 
paper, so as to preclude the possibility of making 
a note, and if he even looked at a text with special 
care, the attendants would snatch the book from 
his hand. In 1844 Edward de Muralt was al- 
lowed to examine it on three different days, but 
under the same watchfulness. In 1855 Dr. 
Tregelles went to Rome, armed with a letter from 
Cardinal Wiseman, to examine the manuscript, 
and, though he was allowed to see it, he was 
effectually hindered from transcribing a word of 
it." (Origin and History of Books of the Bible, 
by Prof. C. E. Stowe, pp. 69, 70). 

These facts prove as clearly as any proposition 
can be proved that the Roman Catholic Church is 
opposed to the free circulation of the Scriptures. 
The Bible has been made a universal book of the 
people only by the art of printing, by the spirit 
of the Reformation, by popular education and the 
Bible Societies of modern times. All of these 
agencies are opposed to Rome, and Rome is op- 
posed to all of these agencies. 



ROME AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 213 



CHAPTEK YII. 

THE ATTITUDE OF ROME TOWARD OUR PUBLIC 

SCHOOL SYSTEM AND GENERAL 

EDUCATION. 

HOEACE GEEELEY wrote, in 1864, words 
which are more true in 1895: "In New 
York we are now having a struggle; the Old World 
hierarchs are pressing us and attempting to de- 
stroy our public school system, and to substitute 
sectarian, theological schools, contrary to the 
very spirit of our institutions. The time may 
come when our children will separate in the 
streets and go to sectarian schools attached to 
their various churches, but when it does come we 
shall have a nation different from what our fathers 
intended. The American character and the Amer- 
ican principle will then be radically changed; 
then will be the death of our present institutions 
founded on common schools and a free Bible. 
These are our corner stones and, if our nation 
stands at all, it must stand on these." 

An irrevocable conflict is upon us. Eome is 
opposed to our public schools and intends to de- 
stroy them. The position of Eome is so char- 



214 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

acteristic of her history and policy that I will 
point out her attitude toward human learning. 

EOME OPPOSED TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 

1. She is the bitter opponent of the public 
schools of the United States. She takes no pains 
to conceal this. I quote some of her foremost 
men and newspapers. Americans can not too 
soon familiarize themselves with the public utter- 
ances of Catholics on this subject. We may well 
inquire what is meant when the second Plenary 
Council of Baltimore says it ascribes to public 
schools ' 'that corruption of morals which we have 
to deplore in those of tender years," and when 
the Second Provincial Council of Oregon, 1881, 
says "swearing, cursing and profane expressions 
are distinctive marks of our public school chil- 
dren," and when it enjoined all "to preserve the 
little ones from the poisoned atmosphere of these 
godless institutions." 

Archbishop Segher, in his lecture on the 
Secular School System, says "It is a blot, a 
blemish and a disgrace on this country, a living 
scandal and an approbrium which covers its pro- 
moters with shame and infamy." 

Father Walker, on the Sabbath of March 14, 
1875, in the St. Lawrence Catholic Church of 
New York, said: "The public schools are the 



ROME AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 



215 



nurseries of vice. They are godless schools and 
they who send their children to them can not ex- 
pect the mercy of God. I would as soon admin- 
ister the sacrament to a dog as to such Catholics. " 




At the convention held at St. Louis, October 
17, 1873, Father Phelan said: "The children of 
the public schools turn out to be public horse 
thieves, scholastic counterfeiters and well versed 
in schemes of deviltry. I frankly confess that 



216 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

Catholics stand before the country as the enemies 
of the public schools. They are afraid that the 
child that left home in the morning would come 
back with something in his heart as black as hell." 

Father McCarthy, in a sermon December 23, 
188Y, said: "The public school is a national 
fraud; it must cease to exist, and the day will 
come when it will cease to exist." 

Cardinal McCloskey says: "We must take 
part in the elections, move in a solid mass in 
every State against the party pledged to sustain 
the integrity of the public schools." 

Archbishop Hughes says: "The public school 
system is a disgrace to the civilization of the nine- 
teenth century." 

Archbishop Ireland, in a speech at Rome, 1892, 
said: "We can have the United States in ten 
years, and I want to give you three points for 
your consideration, the Indians, the negroes and 
the public schools." 

"The Judges of Faith vs. Godless Schools" is 
a little book written by a Roman Catholic priest 
and "addressed to Catholic parents." It bears 
the endorsement of Cardinals Gibbons and New- 
man, and of various dignitaries of that Church. 
The prefatory note states that the book contains 
"the conciliar or single rulings of no less than 
three hundred and eighty of the high and highest 



ROME AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 217 

Church dignitaries. Tliere are brought forward 
twenty-one plenary and provincial councils, six 
or seven diocesan synods, two Roman pontiffs, 
two sacred congregations of some twenty cardinals 
and pontificial officials, seven single cardinals, 
who, with thirty-three archbishops, make forty 
primates and metropolitans; finally, nearly eighty 
single bishops and archbishops,^ deceased or living, 
in the United States." All this mass of authority 
is against our public schools; and the animus of 
these ecclesiastics toward this cherished institution 
is indicated by such epithets and appellations as 
the following: "Mischievous," "baneful to so- 
ciety," "a social plague, " "godless," "pestilen- 
tial," "scandalous," "filthy," "vicious," "dia- 
bolical," places of "unrestrained immorality," 
where things are done the recital of which would 
"curdle the blood in your veins." (Our Country, 
p. 75). 

The Catholic press is opposed to the public 
schools. 

The Colorado Catholic says: "The hideous 
fetich, called the public school, is only an ugly 
idol after all." 

The Freemari's Journal^ December 11, 1869, 
says: "Let the public school system go to where 
it came from — the devil." 

The Chicago Tahlet Q2iy^: "The common schools 



218 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

of this country are sinks of moral pollution and 
nurseries of hell." 

The Catholic Telegraphy Cincinnati, says: "The 
secular school is a social cancer. The sooner it 
is destroyed the better. It will be a glorious day 
for Catholics when, under the blows of justice 
and morality, it will be shivered to pieces." 

Recently there have been some very significant 
oflScial utterances from Rome on the school ques- 
tion. One of the first things that Satolli had to 
consider, when he came to this country, was the 
public school system. He reached a conclusion 
that has been regarded as very ingenious. I will 
allow the Hon. R. W. Thompson, ex-Secretary of 
the Navy, to state the position of Satolli. He 
says: Satolli ''claims for the 'Catholic Church' 
both 'the duty and divine right' of teaching reli- 
gion to 'all nations,' and 'of instructing the 
young'; that is, 'she holds for herself the right of 
teaching the truths of faith and law of morals in 
order to bring up youth in habits of Christian 
life.' Nevertheless, 'there is no repugnance in 
their learning the first elements and higher 
branches of the arts and natural sciences in public 
schools controlled by the State, which protects 
them in their persons and property.' 'But,' he 
continues, 'the Catholic Church shrinks from 
those features of public schools which are opposed 



ROME AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 219^ 

to the truth of Christianity and to morality,' 
wherefore he insists that every effort shall be 
made, both by the bishops and others, to remove 
these 'objectionable features.' And he recom- 
mends that the bishops and civil authorities shall 
agree 'to conduct the schools with mutual atten- 
tion and due consideration for their respective 
rights'; that is, that the schools shall be under 
their joint control, so that teachers 'for the secular 
branches' shall be 'inhibited from offending Cath- 
olic religion and morality,' and the Church be 
permitted to shed her 'light' by 'teaching the 
children catechism, in order to remove danger to 
their faith and morals from any quarter whatso- 
ever. ' " (Footprints of the Jesuits, pp. 397,398).. 
This plan was submitted to Pope Leo XIII., 
and his approval was conveyed to Cardinal Gib- 
bons in an encyclical dated May 31, 1893. "The 
approval of Mgr. Satolli's decision, however, has 
this important condition attached to it by Leo 
XIII. : 'That Catholic schools are to be most 
sedulously promoted, and that it is to be left to 
the judgment and conscience of the ordinary to 
decide, according to the circumstances, when it 
is lawful and when unlawful to attend public 
schools.' This is a most significant condition. 
In the first place, it takes away from the parents 
the right to direct the education of their children,. 



220 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

and places it in the hands of the ordinary, who 
officially represents the papal power. In the 
second place, it leaves the papal condemnation 
and censure still resting upon our system of com- 
mon schools, and only removes it here and there 
from such local and particular schools as the or- 
dinaries of the Church may find acceptable to 
them. And in the third place, it is a positive 
and unqualified affirmance of what multitudes of 
priests have said, that our schools are 'godless,' 
-and that in order to counteract their irreligious 
influences 'Catholic schools are to be most sedu- 
lously promoted.' 

"But there is another condition attached by Leo 
XIII. which is equally significant as that just 
named. It is due to him that this should be stated 
in his own words. He says: 'As we have already 
declared in our letter of the 23rd of May of last 
year to our venerable brethren, the archbishop 
and bishop of the province of I^ew York, so we 
again, as far as need be, declare that the decrees 
which the Baltimore Councils, agreeably to the 
directions of the Holy See, have enacted concern- 
ing parochial schools, and whatsoever else has 
been prescribed by the Roman pontiffs, whether 
directly or through the sacred congregations, con- 
cerning the same matter, are to be steadfastly ob- 
served.' " (Footprints of the Jesuits, p. 399). 



ROME AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 221 

I have already showed that the Baltimore 
Council was opposed to onr common school sys- 
tem. This decision of the pope leaves Rome, 
even more than ever, the enemy of our public 
schools, and waiting to take charge of them at 
her first opportunity. 

I transcribe a part of the decree of the Third 
Plenary Council of Baltimore: 

''We determine and decree: 

"I. That hard by every church, where it does 
not already exist, a parochial school is to be 
erected within two years from the promulgation 
of this council (January 6th, Feast of Epiphany, 
1886), and to be kept up in the future, unless the 
bishop see fit to grant a further delay on account 
of more than ordinary grave difficulties to be over- 
come in its establishment. 

"II. That a priest, who, within the aforesaid 
time, hinders, by serious negligence, the building 
and maintenance of a school, or does not regard 
the repeated admonitions of the bishop, deserves 
removal from that Church. 

*'III. That the mission (missionem) or parish 
neglecting to aid the priest in the erection and 
support of a school, so that on account of this 
supine negligence the same can not exist, is to be 
reprimanded by the bishop, and by every prudent 



222 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

and efficient means urged to supply the necessary 
helps (subsida). 

"lY. That afl Catholic parents are bound to 
send their children to parochial schools, unless 
they provide sufficiently and fully for their Chris- 
tian education at home or at other Catholic 
schools. They may, however, be permitted for a 
good reason, approved by the bishop, and using 
meanwhile the necessary precautions and rem- 
edies, to send them to other schools. But it is 
left to the judgment of the ordinary to decide 
what is a Catholic school." 

PIJBLIO MONEY FOE SECTARIAN SCHOOLS. 

2. Rome claims the right to take money from 
the public treasury to run her parochial schools, 
and when this can not be done she uses every ex- 
ertion to put in Catholic teachers and nuns as in- 
structors in the public schools. State aid for 
religious schools is one of the most dangerous 
attacks that can be made upon our liberties. 

President Garfield used these wise words: "It 
would be dangerous to our institutions to apply 
any portion of the revenue of the nation or the 
State to the support of sectarian schools." (Let- 
ter of Acceptance, July 12, 1880). 

General Grant said: "Encourage free schools 
and resolve that not one dollar appropriated to 



ROME AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 223 

tliem shall be applied to the support of any sec- 
tarian school." (To the Army of the Tennessee, 
Des Moines, 1876). 

Rome seeks upon every occasion to take money 
from the public fund for her schools. The proof 
of this declaration may be obtained, if neces- 
sary, from many States. Nobody denies this, 
as it is the avowed purpose of Rome. What is 
more significant is that Rome has carried this 
fight into national politics. The ex-Commissioner 
of Indian Affairs, Gen. T. J. Morgan, in an article 
on the "Papacy and the Indians," in the ]Vatio7i, 
April, 1895, speaks in no uncertain terms of the 
attitude of the Catholic Church in the last Presi- 
dential election. Gen. Morgan says: "Harrison 
was defeated; Cleveland was elected. How far 
the attitude of the Roman Catholic Church con- 
tributed to this result probably never will be 
known; it is probably true that their attitude was 
not the determining factor; many causes combined 
to bring about a change of administration. Never- 
theless it is true, and a truth of great signifi- 
cance, and needs to be carefully pondered by 
every patriotic American, viz., that the Roman 
Catholic Church threw itself almost solidly into 
the Presidential struggle of 1892, and sought to 
bring about the defeat of Harrison, because he 
sympathized with the public schools and was op- 



224 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

posed on principle to appropriating public money 
for the support of Roman Catholic schools among 
the Indians. The Roman Catholic newspapers 
boasted, after the election, that the victory was 
theirs, brought about by them; and the Church 
had sought to secure from the then incoming Dem- 
ocratic administration the reward of its labors in 
behalf of Cleveland. The startling fact presents 
itself thus, that the Roman Catholic Church in 
this country, which claims a following of ten 
millions, with a voting population probably of a 
million and a half or more, can be used as a 
machine for determining Presidential elections; 
that it holds — as it has boastingly said by one of its 
champions — the balance of power, which it is 
prepared at any time to use for its own advantage. 
The Roman Catholic Church thus enters the lists, 
not to promote the public welfare, not in the in- 
terest of patriotism, but to promote its own ad- 
vantage and in the interest of the Roman Catholic 
Church. In this fact there is great peril to re- 
publican institutions; it is full of ominous threat- 
enings, which indicate a storm that may at any 
time burst upon this country with such fury as to 
shake the very foundation of liberty." 

Here is a bit of history worthy of study: "In 
the year 1875, Hon. James G. Blaine presented 
in the House of Representatives a constitutional 



ROME AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 225 

amendment, which reads as follows: 'No State 
shall make any law representing an establishment 
of religion', or prohibiting the free exercise 
thereof; and no money raised by school taxation 
in any State, for the support of public schools, or 
derived from any public fund therefor, nor any 
public lands devoted thereto, shall ever be under 
the control of any religious sect; nor shall any 
money so raised, or land so devoted, be divided 
among religious sects or denominations.' 

"This amendment was recommended by Presi- 
dent Grant; it was endorsed by the National Re- 
publican Convention, held at Cincinnati June 15, 
1876; and by the National Democratic Conven- 
tion at St. Louis two weeks later. 

"When it came up for action in the House, a 
clause was added by the Judiciary Committee, 
touching the power of Congress, and then it 
passed by the extraordinary vote of 180 to 7, 
This was on the 4:th of August, 1876. 

"But in the Senate, the bill, after further 
amendment, was lost by a vote of 28 to 16, want- 
ing a majority of two-thirds. 

"It was stated in the Senate by Senator Blair,, 

as a matter of history, on the 15th of February, 

1888, that the defeat of this amendment wa& 

brought about by the Jesuits." (From "TwO' 

Sides of the School Question"). 
15 



226 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

3. It is not, therefore, difficult for us to reach 
the conclusion that Roman Catholicism claims the 
right to control all education. Indeed, she does 
not try to conceal this purpose. She never misses 
an opportunity to proclaim it. On this point 
Komanism is quite clear. 

Pope Pius IX. said: "Education outside the 
control of the Poman Catholic Church is a dam- 
nable heresy. . . . Public schools open 
to all children for the education of the youiig 
should be under the control of the Poman Cath- 
olic Church, and should not be subject to the 
civil power, nor made to conform with the opin- 
ions of the age." (Pius IX., Encyc. 47). 

The words of Pius IX., in his syllabus in 1864, 
were approved by Leo XIII. : ' 'The Church has 
the right to deprive the civil authority of the en- 
tire government of the public schools." And so 
this is the present official status of Rome. 

The Catholic World, April, 1871, says: "We 
ourselves, as Catholics, are, as decidedly as any 
other class of American citizens, in favor of uni- 
versal education, as thorough and extensive as 
possible — if its quality suits us. We do not, in- 
deed, prize as highly as some of our countrymen 
appear to do, the ability to read, write and cipher. 
Some men are born to be leaders, and the rest are 
l)orn to be led. We believe that the peasantry in 



ROME AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 227 

old Catholic countries, two centuries ago, were 
better educated — although for the most part un- 
able to read or write — than are the great body of 
American people of to-day." 

O. A. Brownson says: "A struggle, which 
will end in a victory for the Church, has begun 
between Catholicity and the State, to see who 
shall have the child." 

Monsignor Segur says: "The authority of the 
Church is a guard over human understanding in 
whatever, directly or indirectly, affects religion; 
which means in every kind of doctrines,- religious, 
philosophical, scientific, political, etc." 

Bishop McQuaid, in a lecture at Horticultural 
Hall, Boston, February 13, 18T6, said: "The 
State has no right to educate, and when the State 
undertakes the work of education it is usurping 
the powers of the Church." 

The reason for this position is given by the 
Catholic Review^ August 31, 1889. It says: 
"The parochial school is necessary because Cath- 
olic children can not be brought up Catholic and 
attend the public schools. This is a recognized 
fact. ... At the present moment the Cath- 
olic Church in America depends more on the faith 
of the Catholic immigrant than on the faith of the 
generation which has received its education in the 
public schools. ... We see no way of 



228 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

making them (young Americans) Catholics than 
by the parochial school. Our conscience forces 
us to take up the work. 



55 



THE PAROCHIAL SCHOOL A FAILURE. 

4. These papal or parochial schools in the 
United States are failures, and will not meet the 
wants of our nation. Outside of the fact that we 
do not desire our children educated in papal super- 
stitions, these schools are not patriotic and will 
not make patriotic citizens. We can add that the 
schools will not meet the educational demands of 
our times. Catholic schools are not thorough. 
All of this is freely confessed by Catholics. 

Dr. Brownson said in relation to Catholic 
schools: "They practically fail to recognize 
human progress," and, "as far as we are able to 
trace the effect of the most approved Catholic edu- 
cation of our day, whether at home or abroad, it 
tends to repress rather than quicken the life of 
the pupil, to unfit rather than prepare him for 
the active and zealous discharge either of his reli- 
gious or his social duties. They who are edu- 
cated in our schools seem misplaced or mistimed 
iu the world, as if born and educated for a world 
that has ceased to exist." 

The Freeman^s Journal^ a Catholic paper, in 
1881, called the parochial schools "apologies, 



ROME AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 



229 



compromises, systemless pretenses" in which a 
' 'smattering of the catechism is supplied to fit the 
children for the duties of life." (Merrill's "Pa- 
No. 8, p. 12). 



triotic Sermons," 



ILLITERACY. 



5. The Catholic system is a recognized foe to 
true education in every country. So great a 
Catholic as Milner confessed: "The bulk of man- 




kind can not read at all; and we do not find any 
divine commandment as to their being obliged to 
study letters. " (End of Controversy, p, 41). The 
reason for this will appear when we remember 



230 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

that a man must surrender his intelligence to be 
a good Catholic. Pope Gregory XYI. says: "If 
the holy Church so requires, let us sacrifice our 
own opinions, our knowledge, our intelligence, 
the splendid dreams of our imagination, and the 
most sublime attainments of the human under- 
standing." 

Ignatius Loyola, founder of the order of the 
Jesuits, says: "That we may, in all things, at- 
tain the truth, that we may not err in anything, 
we- ought ever to hold, as a fixed principle, that 
what I see white, I believe to be black, if the 
superior authorities of the Church define it to be 
so. ' ' (Spiritual Exercise). 

Such men are not proper teachers of youth. I 
shall present some statistics that will illustrate 
this thought. 

"The United States Bureau of Education col- 
lected the following statistics in 1890, showing 
the ratio of illiteracy in Protestant and Romanist 
countries: 

KOMAN CATHOLIC. 

Austria , 39 per cent. 

Hungary 42 

Italy.. 48 

Portugal 82 

Spain 63 

Ireland 21 

Belgium 15 



ROME AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 231 

PROTESTANT. 

Germany Less than 1 per cent. 

Denmark Less than 1 " 

Eng-land 9 " 

Scotland 7 " 

Norway Less than 1 ' ' 

Sweden Less than 1 " 

Switzerland. 2i " 

"According to the report of the Minister of In- 
struction of Papal Italy in 1864, only three 
and a half of her twenty-one millions of people 
could read and write. Since then the Italian 
government has taken the education out of 
the hands of the Church with the astonishing re- 
sult that in 1878, instead of seventeen per cent., 
fifty-two per cent, of the people could read and 
write. During all the time of this progress the 
pope publicly opposed the reform and denounced 
the Italian government as 'wolves,' 'impious,' 
'children of Satan,' 'enemies of God,' and 'mon- 
sters of hell, ' and said that they were making the 
city a sink of corruption, with devils walking 
through its streets. 

"Australia and tlie Argentine Republic have 
the same area and population. In Argentina are 
found but 3,233 schools, while Australia has 
7,282. Argentina has 7,054 teachers, while 
Australia has 15,083. Argentina teaches 249,700 
pupils, while Australia teaches 745,300. Argen- 
tina spends 12,600,000 on education, while Aus- 



282 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

tralia spends $11,400,000. In Argentina illit- 
eracy preponderates; in Australia popular intelli- 
gence is the rule." 

How large is the proportion of illiteracy in the 
Central American States can be inferred from 
statistics furnished by the publication of a gen- 
eral census of Guatemala. The information was 
gathered on February 26, 1893, and is, therefore, 
sufficiently late as to insure that there have been 
no material changes since. On that date there 
were 1,364,678 inhabitants, of whom only 99,553 
know how to read and write. The illiterates 
numbered 1,240,092 as 25,000 others knew how 
to read. Out of the whole number 526,666 lived 
in cities and towns. The fact that 882,773 were 
Indians mitigates the severity of the picture; but 
as there were 11,331 foreigners the showing for 
the natives is still bad. Guatemala is one of the 
most flourishing and is the strongest of the Cen- 
tral American States, yet little more than eight 
per cent, of the whole population can read and 
write. 

Unfortunately for Catholicism statistics show 
that a larger number of illiterates come to theUnited 
States from Italy than from any other source, and it 
sends fewer skilled laborers than any other Euro- 
pean country except Russia, Poland and Austria- 
Hungary. The report of the Superintendent of Im- 



ROME AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 233 

migration for 1893, says the proportion of skilled 
workmen among tlie immigrants that year was as 
follows: From Scotland, 1 in 4; from England 
and Wales, 1 in 5; from Belgium, 1 in T; France, 
1 in 9; Germany and Norway, 1 in 10; Italy, 1 in 
14; Bussia, 1 in 18; Poland, 1 in 23; Austria- 
Hungary, 1 in 29. The percentage of illiterates 
in the total immigration is 15. The number in 
each hundred immigrants who could not read 
and write their own language was as follows: 
Switzerland, 4; Sweden and Norway, 1; Scotland 
and Germany, 2; England and France, 3; Wales 
and Ireland, 7; Russia, 26; Austria-Hungary, 
^9; Poland, 31; Italy, 36. 

The total immigration from July 1, 1894, to 
April 1, 1895, numbered 140,980 persons, of 
wdiom the Italians, Poles, Russians and Austro- 
Hungarians aggregated 57,467, or 38.8 per cent. 
Of the remaining 61.2 per cent, came from the 
United Kingdom, France, Germany and Scandi- 
navia. Among all were three idiots, 1,071 
paupers, eleven convicts, 353 contract laborers 
and 123 who have since been deported for vari- 
ous reasons. 

The amount of money brought over by all was 
12,395,846— only |17 to each person. These 
:figures are furnished by the Superintendent of 
Immigration. 



234 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

"The Cyclopaedia of Education," 1877, in its 
article on Illiteracy, gives a table containing sta- 
tistics of thirty countries. Of these, five are 
starred as "nearly free from illiteracy," and all 
of them are Protestant. The highest percentage 
of illiteracy given for any Protestant country in 
the world is 33. In all of those countries where 
50 per cent, or more are illiterate the religion is 
Homan Catholic, Greek or heathen, viz. : Argen- 
tine Pepublic, 83 per cent. ; China, 50 per cent. ; 
Greece, 82 per cent. ; Hungary, 51 per cent. ; In- 
dia, 95 per cent. ; Italy, 73 per cent. ; Mexico, 93 
per cent. ; Poland, 91 per cent. ; Russia, 91 per 
cent. ; Spain, 80 per cent. Here six Homan Cath- 
olic countries, including Italy, the home of the 
pope, where, until recent years, the Church has 
had undisputed sway, are far more illiterate than 
heathen China. Touching the education of the 
masses — except in Protestant countries as ex- 
plained above — we are forced to infer either the 
indifference or the incompetence of the Church of 
Rome. (^Our Country, p. 76). 

I present an array of facts against the parochial 
school which is overwhelming. These facts were 
used by Dr. Sydney Strong in a public discussion 
with Father Mulhane. Dr. Strong says: "It has 
a bad record. In Italy and Spain the parochial 
school — by which I mean tliat all education was 



ROME AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 235 

under the control of the clergy and the Church — 
has had full sway for centuries with this result: 
In 1860, seven out of ten Spaniards were unable 
to read or write; in 1862, eight out of every ten 
Italians were unable to read or write; in 1860, 
seven out of every ten married couples could not 
sign their names to their own marriage certificates. 
'Italy,' as Victor Hugo said, 'which taught man- 
kind how to read, yet now knows not how to 
read.' Yet Italy is the home of the parochial 
school. The clergy largely control education in 
Ireland, yet 'the Irish,' says an Irishman, 'have 
fallen in intelligence so far behind other races 
that thev have become mere "hewers of wood" 
and "drawers of water" for other nations.' 

"Call the roll of the republics of South and 
Central America. From the first, education has 
been in the hands of the clergy, and the only rec- 
ognized school, the parochial. From Brazil, 
Chili and the Argentine Republic, Mexico, and on 
down through the list, there comes but one an- 
swer: only a small per cent, are able to read and 
write. Come to Massachusetts. In 1875 there 
were 100,000 people in that State who were illit- 
erate. Ninety-four thousand of them were for- 
eign born. From what countries? Germany sent 
less than 1,000. Germany has public schools. 
Ireland sent 67,000. Every fourth Irishman that 



::30 AMERICA OR ROMK. WHICH? 

landed in Boston Harbor was not able to write 
his own name (^Census of Mass., 1885, \\ Ixxxix.). 
Who mainly had charge of Ireland's education? 
The Chm*ch, through parochial schools. 

"1 consider one fact to be established: the 
parochial school has failed to teach the people 
how to read and write. In proof, I point to Spain, 
Italy, Portugal, Ireland, France, South and Cen- 
tral America — before thev shook off the parochial 
school — and I see the masses dwelling in igno- 
rance. 1 say, therefore, to the parochial school, 
mention one nation whose children you have 
taught to read and write, and your claims will be 
considered. 

*^The parochial school has been repudiated by 
its former friends. Again, call the voW of the 
nations of Europe. Italy. — Established conunon 
schools in IS(>0. Attendance was made compul- 
sory in ISTT. France. —Education was made 
free, compulsory, and non-religious in 188ii. 
England. — Parochial schools are found wanting, 
and illiteracy on the increase. (^oninion schools 
were established in ISTiK (lermany. The lead- 
ing nation of Europe, is the leader in common 
schools. The Netherlands. The same answer. 
Norway. -Free, compulsory, ncm-religious, com- 
mon schools. Switzerlnnd. The same. 

"1 do not fear being disputed wlien 1 say. 



ROME AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 237 

quoting from so sober an authority as the 'En- 
cyclopsedia Britannica,' that in all Europe educa- 
tion is passing from the control of the clergy into 
the hands of the State; is becoming more 'secular 
and less sectarian' (Vol. YIII., p. 712). Neither 
is it a religious question. Roman Catholic Italy 
in the South, Protestant Sweden in the North, are 
alike moving to establish public schools, in which 
the teacher shall only answer to the State, and the 
instruction only be secular. Do we want to put 
on the cast-off garments of Europe? 

"What do Mexico, Central America and South 
America think of the parochial school? I hold in 
my hand a book published in 1888, entitled, 'The 
Capitals of South America,' by William E. Curtis, 
appointed in 1885, by President Arthur, Secre- 
tary of the Spanish-American Commission. He 
had exceptional advantages to ascertain the facts, 
and is a fair writer. Let Mexico speak. Parochial 
schools have been prohibited. Free public schools 
have been established. Whoever sends a child 
to a parochial school is fined (p. 4). Let the re- 
publics of Central America speak: Guatemala. — 
Children between the ages of eight and fourteen 
are required to attend the public schools (p. 84). 
San Salvador. — Education is free and compulsory 
and under State control (p. 178). Costa Rica. — 
Education under State control and is compulsory 



238 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

(p. 218), Whoever sends a child to a parochial 
school is subject to a heavy fine. 

"Let the republics of South America, with 
their 50,000,000 of people, speak: Remember 
that until twenty years ago the education of the 
children was in parochial schools under control of 
the clergy. Argentine Republic. — Free public 
schools under State control and a compulsory 
law, closely modeled after the -system of the State 
of Michigan (p. 557). Chili. — Public, non-sec- 
tarian schools. Whoever sends a child to a paro- 
chial school is fined (p. 494). Uruguay. — Parochial 
schools have been closed, and free public schools 
have been established (p. 611). Venezuela. — 
Schools are supported by the government (p. 270). 
Brazil. — The same (p. 678). So on through the 
list, every one of them repudiating the parochial 
school and establishing free public schools, until 
we reach Ecuador. 

"Ecuador is the only one of the South America 
republics that has not struggled to take education 
out of the hands of the clergy and destroy the 
parochial school. And what of Ecuador? There 
is not a railroad nor a stagecoach in the entire 
country. Laborers get from two to ten dollars a 
month. With a million inhabitants, there are 
only forty-seven postofl&ces. Ecuador, by nature 
one of the richest of the republics, yet sitting in 



ROME AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 239 

ignorance, is the only one holding to the old 
system of the parochiiil school (p. 306). 

"The nations of South America send this mes- 
sage to the United States: 'We have tried the 
parochial school, but it has been found wanting. 
The education of our children has for ages been 
intrusted to the Church, but our children grew up 
in ignorance. If education is to be universal and 
broad, it must be placed in tlie hands of the State.' 
Central America and Europe send the same mes- 
sage. 

"Neither is it through any enmity to the Church, 
for the same message comes from Protestant 
Germany, Sweden and England, and from Cath- 
olic Italy and France, Chili arnd Brazil. In South 
America Catholicism is the State religion; yet 
they say emphatically, the Church is not able, 
through its parochial schools, to teach the people. 
They have, therefore, placed the work in the 
hands of the State. 

"Now, the parochial school knocks at our door 
and claims the right to teach our children. Shall 
we dismiss a school system which the nations of 
the earth are examining and copying and borrow- 
ing, and put in its place a system that nearly all 
have turned off?" 

I will sum up the paralyzing position of Rome on 
liuman knowledge in the eloquent words of Yictor 



240 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? . 

Hugo: "You claim the liberty of teaching. 
Stop! Be sincere! Let us understand the liberty 
you claim. It is the liberty of not teaching. 
You wish us to give you the people to instruct. 
Yery well; let us see your pupils. Let us see 
those you have produced. What have you done 
for Italy? What have you done for Spain? 
Thanks to you, Italy, whose name no man who 
thinks can longer pronounce without inexpressible 
filial emotions — Italy, mother of genius and of 
nations, which has spread abroad over all the 
universe, all the marvels of poetry and the arts, 
Italy, which has taught mankind to read, knows 
not how to read. Spain, magnificently endowed 
Spain, which received from the Komans her first 
civilization; from the Arabs her second civiliza- 
tion; from Providence, and in spite of you, a 
world — America — Spain, thanks to you, a yoke 
of stupor, which is a yoke of degradation and 
decay. Spain has lost the secret power which it 
had from the Romans; this genius of art which it 
had from the Arabs ; this world which it had from 
God; and in exchange for all that you have made 
it lose, it has received from you the Inquisition; 
the Inquisition which has burned on the funeral 
pyre millions of men; the Inquisition which dis- 
interred the bones of the dead to burn them as 
heretics; the Inquisition which has declared the 



ROME AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 241 

children of heretics infamous and incapable of 
any public honors except such as denounced their 
fathers. These are your masterpieces. This fire 
which we call Italy you have extinguished. This 
Colossus that we call Spain you have undermined 
— the one in ashes, the other in ruins. This is 
what you have done for two great nations." 
16 



242 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 



CHAPTER YIII. 

THE ATTITUDE OP ROME TOWARD THE FREE- 
DOM OF THE PRESS. 

THE Koman Catholic Church has placed a cen- 
sorship upon human knowledge. The First 
Amendment to the Constitution of the United 
States provided that "Congress shall make no law 
abridging the freedom of speech or of 
the press." Rome is clearly hostile to this 
amendment, and declares that a man is not to 
speak unless he is in accord with Rome. 

The Council of the Lateran, held at Rome, A. 
.D. 1515, under Leo X., session 10th, thus en- 
acted: "We ordain and decree that no person 
shall presume to print, or cause to be printed, any 
book or other writing whatsoever, either in our 
-city (Rome) or in any other cities and dioceses, 
unless it shall have first been carefully examined, 
if in this city, by our vicar and the master of the 
holy palace, or, if in other cities or dioceses, by 
the bishops or their deputies, with the inquisitor 
•of heretical pravity for the diocese, in which the 
;said impression is about to be made; and, unless 
it also shall have received under their own hand, 



ROME AND THE PRESS. 243 

their written approval given without price, and 
without delay. Whosoever shall presume to do 
otherwise, besides the loss of the books, which 
shall be publicly burned, shall be bound by the 
sentence of excommunication." (Carranza, p. 
670). Carranza, from whom the above is ex- 
tracted, more wisely than honestly, omits several 
parts of this decree, such as: ''That the trans- 
gressing printer was to pay two hundred duckts, 
to help in building St. Peter's Cathedral at 
Rome, be suspended a year from his trade," etc. 
But it was reserved for the Council of Trent to 
pass laws proscriptive of all literature that was 
not acceptable to Rome. This duty was referred 
to a committee. The following is the decree of 
the Council in reference to this committee: "The 
sacred and holy synod, in the second session, cele- 
brated under our most holy lord, Pius lY., in- 
trusted to certain chosen fathers, to consider what 
ought to be done about various censures and 
books, either suspected or pernicious, to report to 
the holy synod itself. Hearing now that the 
last hand had been put to that labor by them, 
which, however, can not be distinctly and advan- 
tageously decided by the holy synod, on account 
of the variety and multitude of the books, in order 
that, whatever has been done by them, may be 
shown to the most holy Roman pontiff, that it 



244 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

may be settled and published by his decision and 
authority." And it commands that the same 
should be done about the Catechism by the fathers 
to whom that question was intrusted, and about 
the Missal and Breviary. (De Indice Libr., sess. 
XXV., p. 205, Canones et Decreta Cone. Trid., 
Lipsise, 1863). 

This committee finally framed ten rules which 
were designed to keep Catholics in ignorance. I 
subscribe these rules: 

"1. All books condemned by the supreme 
pontiffs, or general councils, before the year 1515, 
and not comprised in the present Index, are, 
nevertheless, to be considered as condemned. 

"2. The books of heresiarchs, whether of those 
who abroached or disseminated their heresies 
prior to the year above mentioned, or those who 
have been, or are, the heads or leaders of here- 
tics, as Luther, Zwingle, Calvin, Balthasar Paci- 
montanus, Swenchfeld and similar ones, are alto- 
gether forbidden, whatever may be their names, 
titles or subjects. And the books of other heretics, 
which treat professedly upon religion, are totally 
condemned; but those which do not treat upon 
religion are allowed to be read, after being ex- 
amined and approved by Catholic divines, by order 
of the bishops and inquisitors. Those Catholic 
books are also permitted to be read which have 



ROME AND THE PRESS. 245 

been composed by authors who have afterwards 
fallen into heresy, or who, after their fall, have 
returned into the bosom of the Church, provided 
they have been approved by the theological faculty 
of some Catholic university or by the general In- 
quisition. 

"3. Translations of ecclesiastical writers, which 
have been hitherto published by condemned 
authors, are permitted to be read, if they contain 
nothing contrary to sound doctrine. Translations 
of the Old Testament may be allowed, but only to 
learned and pious men, at the discretion of the 
bishop; provided that .they use them merely as 
elucidations of the Yulgate version, in order to 
understand the holy Scriptures, and not the sacred 
text itself. But translations of the New Testa- 
ment made by authors of the first class of this 
Index are allowed to no one, since little advan- 
tage, but much danger, generally arises from 
reading them. If notes accompany the versions 
which are allowed to be read, or are joined to the 
Vulgate edition, they may be permitted to be read 
by the same persons as the versions, after the sus- 
pected places have been expunged by the theolog- 
ical faculty of some Catholic university, or by the 
general inquisitor. On the same conditions also, 
pious and learned men may be permitted to have 
what is called Yatablus' Bible, or any part of it. 



246 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

But the preface and prolegomena of the Bible 
published by Isodorus Clarius, are, however, ex- 
cepted; and the text of his editions is not to be 
considered as the text of the Yulgate edition." 

The fourth rule is given in another place, so we 
do not reproduce it here. 

"5. Books of which heretics are the editors, 
but which contain little or nothing of their own, 
being mere compilations from others, as lexicons, 
concordances, apothegms, similes, indexes and 
others of a similar kind, may be allowed by the 
bishops and inquisitors, after having made, with 
the advice of Catholic divines, such corrections 
and emendations as may be deemed requisite. 

"6. Books of controversy betwixt Catholics 
and heretics of the present time, written in the 
vulgar tongue, are not to be indiscriminately al- 
lowed, but are to be subject to the same regula- 
tions as Bibles in the vulgar tongue. As to those 
works in the vulgar tongue which treat of moral- 
ity, contemplation, confession and similar sub- 
jects, and which contain nothing contrary to 
sound doctrine, there is no reason why they 
should be prohibited; the same may be said also 
of sermons in the vulgar tongue, designed for the 
people. And if in any kingdom or province any 
books have been hitherto prohibited, as contain- 
ing things not proper to be read, without selec- 



ROME AND THE PRESS. 247 

tion, by all sorts of persons, they may be allowed 
by the bishop and inquisitor, after having cor- 
rected them, if written by Catholic authors. 

"7. Books professedly treating of lascivious or 
obscene subjects, or narrating, or teaching them, 
are utterly prohibited, since not only faith, but 
morals, which are readily corrupted by the perusal 
of them are to be attended to; and those who 
possess them shall be severely punished by the 
bishop. But the works of antiquity, written by 
the heathens, are permitted to be read, because 
of the elegance and propriety of the language; 
though on no account shall they be suffered to be 
read by young persons. ♦ 

"8. Bocks, the principal subject of which is 
good, but in which some things are occasionally 
introduced tending to heresy and impiety, divina- 
tion or superstition, may be allowed, after they 
have been corrected by Catholic divines, by the 
authority of the general Inquisition. The same 
judgment is also formed of prefaces, summaries, 
or notes, taken from condemned authors, and in- 
serted in the works of authors not condemned; 
but such works must not be printed in future until 
they have been amended. 

"9. All books and writings of geomancy, 
hydromancy, aeromancy, pyromancy, onomancy, 
chiromancy and necromancy; or which treat of 



248 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

sorceries, poisons, auguries, auspices or magical 
incantations, are utterly rejected. The bishops 
shall also diligently guard against any persons 
reading or keeping any books, treatises or indexes 
which treat of judicial astrology, or contain pre- 
sumptuous predictions of the events of future 
contingencies, and fortuitious occurrences, or of 
those actions which depend upon the will of man. 
But such opinions and observations of natural 
things as are written in aid of navigation, agri- 
culture and medicine are permitted." 

If we regard these nine rules as tyrannical, a 
strict application of the provisions of the tenth 
rule would destroy all liberty of speech and 
thought. A mere recital of this rule shows the 
tyranny of the Catholic system. I quote again: 

"10. In the printing of books and other writ- 
ings, the rules shall be observed which were or- 
dained in the 10th session of the Council of 
Lateran, under Leo X. Therefore, if any book 
is to be printed in the city of Rome, it shall first 
be examined by the pope's vicar and the master 
of the sacred palace, or other persons chosen by 
our most holy father for that purpose. In other 
places the examination of any book or manuscript 
intended to be printed shall be referred to the 
bishop or some skillful person whom he shall 
nominate, and the inquisitor of heretical pravity 



ROME AND THE PRESS. 249 

of the city or diocese in which the imp.ression is 
executed, who shall gratuitously and without de- 
lay affix their approbation to the work, in their 
own handwriting, subject, nevertheless, to the 
pains and censures contained in said decree; this 
law and condition being added, that an authentic 
copy of the book to be printed, signed by the 
author himself, shall remain in the hands of the 
examiner, and it is the judgment of the fathers of 
the present deputation, that those persons who 
publish works in manuscript, before they have 
been examined and approved, should be subject 
to the same penalties as those who print them; 
and that they who read or possess them should be 
considered as the authors, if the real authors of 
such writings do not avow themselves. The ap- 
probation given in writing shall be placed at the 
head of the books, whether printed or in manu- 
script, that they may appear to be duly author- 
ized, and this examination and approbation, etc., 
shall be granted gratuitously. 

"Moreover, in every city and diocese, the 
house or place where the art of printing is exer- 
cised, and also the shops of booksellers, shall be 
frequently visited by persons deputed for that 
purpose by the bishop or his vicar, conjointly 
with the ^inquisitor of heretical pravity, so that 
nothing that is prohibited may be printed, kept, 



250 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

or sold. Booksellers of every description shall 
keep in their libraries a catalogue of the books 
which they have on sale, signed by the said depu- 
ties; nor shall they keep, or sell, nor in anyway 
dispose of, any other books without permission 
from the deputies, under pain of forfeiting the 
books and being liable to such other penalties a& 
shall be judged proper by the bishop or inquisitor, 
who shall also punish the buyers, readers or 
printers of such works. If any person import 
foreign books into any city, they shall be obliged 
to announce them to the deputies; or, if this kind 
of merchandise be exposed to sale in any public 
place, the public officers of the place shall signify 
to said deputies that such books have been brought '^ 
and no one shall presume to give, to read, or lend, 
or sell, any book which he or any other person has 
brouglit into the city until he has shown it to the 
deputies and obtained their permission, unless it 
be a work well known to bo universally allowed. 
'•Heirs and testimentary executors shall make 
no use of the books of the deceased, nor in any 
way transfer them to others until they have pre- 
sented a catalogue of them to the deputies and 
obtained their license, under pain of the confisca- 
tion of the books, or the inlliction of sucli other 
punishment as the bishop or inquisitor shall deem 



ROME AND THE PRESS. 251 

proper, according to the contumacy or quality of 
the delinquent. 

"With regard to those books which the fathers 
of the present deputation shall examine, or cor- 
rect, or deliver to be corrected, or permit to be 
reprinted on certain conditions, booksellers and 
others shall be bound to observe whatever is or- 
dained respecting them. The bishops and gen- 
eral inquisitors shall, nevertheless, be at liberty, 
according to the power they possess, to prohibit 
such books as may seem to be permitted by these 
rules, if they deem it necessary for the good of 
the kingdom, or province, or diocese. And let 
the secretary of tliese fathers, according to the 
command of our holy father, transmit to the 
notary of the general inquisitor the names of the 
books that have been corrected, as well as of the 
persons to whom the fathers have granted the 
power of examination. 

"Finally, it is enjoined on all the faithful that 
no one presume to keep or read any books con- 
trary to these rules, or prohibited by the Index. ^ 
But, if any one keep or read any books composed 
by heretics, or the writings of any others suspected 
of heresy, or false doctrine, he shall instantly inour 
the sentence of excommunication; and those who 
read or keep works interdicted on another account^ 



•252 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

besides the mortal sin committed, shall be severely 
punished at the will of the bishops." 

Pope Pius TV. endorsed these oppressive rules 
with all his heart, and sent them forth with an 
eulogistic bulL He says: "By our apostolic 
authority, we approve, by these presents, the In- 
dex itself, together with the rules prefixed to it; 
and we command and decree that it be printed 
and published, and that it be received everywhere 
by all Catholic universities, and by every one 
whatsoever; and that these rules be observed; 
prohibiting each and all, as well ecclesiastics, 
secular and regular, of every grade, order and 
dignity, as laymen, no matter what their honor 
and dignity, that no one may dare to keep or read 
any books contrary to the command of these rules, 
and the prohibition of the Index itself." (Pius 
lY., Ad Futuram Rei Memoriam, Canones et 
Decreta. Cone. Trid., Lipsse, 1863). 

That claim has been incorporated into the 
Canon Law of Pome. The YII. article reads: 
"The Church has the right to practice the uncon- 
ditional censure of books." 

Gregory XYL, upon his coronation, August 
6, 1832, addressed an encyclical to the faithful. 
The following are extracts from that letter: "To- 
wards this point tends that most vile, detestable 
and never-to-be sufficiently execrated liberty of 



ROME AND THE PRESS. 253 

booksellers, namely, of publishing writings of 
whatsoever kind they please; a liberty which 
some persons dare with such violence of language 
to demand and promote, 

' 'Far different was the discipline of the Church 
in extirpating the infection of bad books, even in 
the days of the apostles; who, we read, publicly 
burned a vast quantity of books. 

"Let it suffice to read over the laws passed on 
that point in the First Council of Lateran, and the 
constitution which subsequently was published by 
our predecessor of happy memory, Leo X. Let 
not that which was happily invented for the increas- 
ing of the faith, and spread of good learning, be 
converted to a contrary purpose, and bring harm ta 
the salvation of faithful Christians. 

"This matter also occupied extremely the at- 
tention of the Fathers of Trent, who applied a 
remedy to so great an evil by publishing a most 
salutary decree, for compiling an index of books, 
in which improper doctrine was contained. 
Clement XIII. , our predecessor of happy memory, 
in his encyclical letter on the suppression of ob- 
noxious books, pronounces: 'We must contend 
with energy such as the subject requires, and with 
all our might exterminate the deadly mischief of 
so many books; for the matter of error will never 



254 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

be effectually removed unless the guilty elements 
of depravity be consumed in the flames.' 

''So that by his continual solicitude, through 
all ages, with which the holy Apostlic See has 
€ver striven to condemn suspected and noxious 
books, and to arrest them forcibly out of men's 
hands; it is most clear how false, rash and in- 
jurious to the said Apostolic See, and fruitful of 
enormous evils to the Christian public, is the 
doctrine of those who not only reject the censor- 
ship of books as too severe and burdensome, but 
even proceed to that length of wickedness as to 
assert that it is contrary to the principles of equal 
justice, and dare to deny to the Church the right 
of enacting and employing it." 

Pius IX. issued, December 8, 1864, his Sylla- 
bus, and it is as binding as the decalogue. In it 
he says: "She (the Church) has a right to de- 
prive the civil authority of the entire government 
of the public schools." "She has the power of 
requiring the State not to permit free expression 
of opinion." 

Leo XIII., in a letter, June 17, 1885, said: 
"Such a duty (obedience), while incumbent upon 
all without exception, is most strictly so on jour- 
nalists who, if they were not animated with the 
spirit of docility and submission so necessary to 



ROME AND THE PRESS. 255 

• 

•every Catholic, would help to extend and greatly 
aggravate the evils we deplore." 

A writer for the Catholic World, July 18, 18T0, 
in an article entitled "The Catholics of the Nine- 
teenth Century," shows what would become of 
free speech and the freedom of the press in the 
event of Koman ascendency in the United States. 
He says: "The supremacy asserted for the 
Church in matters of education implies the addi- 
tional and cognate function of the censorship of 
ideas and the right to examine and approve or 
disapprove all books, publications, writings and 
utterances intended for public instruction, en- 
lightenment or entertainment, and the supervision 
of places of amusement. This is the principle 
upon which the Church has acted in handing over 
to the civil authorities for punishment criminals 
in the world of ideas." 

Lord Robert Montagu, a prominent Koman 
Catholic, of England, wrote a book called "Pop- 
ular Errors Concerning Politics and Religion." 
He especially denounced the liberty of the press. 
It is called "the most hurtful of liberties," and 
restraints and "checks should be imposed upon the 
press." It is condemned as a "crime," and, it 
is said, "there is no right to a freedom of a 
press." In order to prove how hard the popes 
and councils have struggled to put a stop to "tell- 



256 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

ing lies in public," by "newspaper editors," he 
cites the "strict orders" issued by the Lateran 
Council, under Leo X., that nothing should be 
published which the bishops did not approve; and 
the renewal of these orders by the Council of 
Trent. He then enumerates the following popes, 
who prescribed rules and injunctions to prevent 
these commands from being evaded: Alexander 
YIL, Clement YIIL, Benedict XI Y., Pius YL, 
Gregory X.YL , the last of whom is represented as 
saying that the freedom of the press is "detest- 
able" and "execrable"; and, lastly, Pius IX. , in 
the seventy-ninth proposition of his Syllabus. 
(Pp. 328-333). 

With these facts before us we are not surprised 
that Rome has ever been the enemy of free 
thought. She condemned Galileo, Copernicus, 
Kepler and Newton. Pope Urban XIII. formulated 
the following decree: "In the name and by the 
authority of Jesus Christ, the plenitude of which 
resides in His vicar, the pope, we declare that the 
teaching that the earth is not the center of the 
world, and that it moves with a diurnal motion, 
is absurd, philosophically false and erroneous in 
faith." 

We are not, therefore, surprised to find that 
CathoUcs desire a censorship over the press in 
this country and that they are working to that 



ROME AND THE PRESS. 257 

end. The Associated Press of the United States 
is largely controlled by Catholics. It is well 
known that its principal promoters and owners 
are Catholics, and it is, therefore, nearly impossi- 
ble to get anything unfavorable to Rome in the 
secular papers. 

The Catholic Truth Society was organized in 
St. Paul, Minn., March 1, 1890. The avowed 
purpose of this society was to control the utter- 
ances of the press. Prof. Townsend says: "Re- 
cently there has been published the fact that this 
society is 'to beg, borrow or buy space in the 
secular papers — the dailies, weeklies and month- 
lies,' all over the civilized globe, that it may 
thereby defend and extol the papacy. Another 
purpose of this society is to overrun newspaper 
offices with Roman Catholic employes, and to see 
that Roman Catholic youths are properly qualified 
for journalistic work. . . . Another object 
is to control, in a quiet way, the utterances of 
those publications that are owned and controlled 
by men who are nominally Protestants." 

Catholics openly boast that they control the 
press. At a session of the Congress of the Cath- 
olic Truth Society, held in Liverpool in 1892, an 
English bishop said: "We can get a report in 
the newspapers whenever we like." Father 

Roth well said: "It is a greater gain for a Catli- 
17 



258 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

olic article to appear in a non-Catholic paper than 
in a Catholic one." The following item also ap- 
peared: "There is at least one Catholic journal 
in every large town; the journals of America and 
Europe have on their various staffs Roman Cath- 
olics in larger numbers than their relative ability, 
than their relative numerical strength in these 
countries would warrant." 

The fathers of the Third Plenary Council of 
Baltimore decreed: "It is greatly to be desired 
that in each of our large cities a Catholic daily 
newspaper be maintained, fully, equal to the 
secular daily papers in financial strength, and the 
sagacity, vigor and power of its writers. Nor is 
it necessary that the word Catholic be displayed 
at the head of its pages. It is sufficient that, in 
addition to recent occurrences and all those things 
which in other daily newspapers are eagerly de- 
sired, it defend, whenever a proper opportunity 
presents itself, the Catholic Church from the as- 
saults and calumnies of its enemy, and explain 
its doctrine; and, moreover, that it carefully ab- 
stain from placing before its readers anything 
that is scandalous, indecent or unbecoming." 

That these provisions are carried out we have 
every reason to believe. Mr. Wolff said at the 
Catholic Congress: "It is all-important that there 
should be a vigorous, intelligent and ably con- 



ROME AND THE PRESS. 259 

ducted Catholic newspaper press. . . . The 
best way to keep bad newspapers out of a family 
is to furnish it with good sound Catholic news- 
papers. . . . The establishment of a Cath- 
olic daily newspaper is necessary, because Cath- 
olic weekly journals can not quickly expose and 
refute the falsehoods and calumnies that are con- 
stantly invented and spread abroad respecting the 
Church, and especially respecting the holy See. 
There is to-day more than enough capi- 
tal invested by Catholics in non-Catholic news- 
papers all over the land to amply provide for a 

dozen or a score of Catholic dailies 

There are, on the great non-Catholic dailies of 
our large cities, Catholics who, in sagacity, quick- 
ness, fullness of knowledge, and all that goes to 
make a successful journalist, are peers to their 
non-Catholic fellow-workers. 

Gen. T. M. Harris says he has "good reasons 
to believe that the Jesuits in the United States 
have found means to colonize one or more of their 
graduates in journalism on the staff of nearly 
every great daily paper in our country." 

And the Boston Citizen declares that "schools 
are formed where boys and girls from the ten- 
derest age are trained under the priesthood into 
the intricacies of the printing office and other 
places, and fitted to enter in their pupilage, the 



260 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

various lines of drudgery opening before them, 
from the printer's devil to editor — the work to be 
kept up from year to year, for the purpose of sur- 
veillance. This will enable them to have such a 
cordon of pressmen, compositors, editors, etc , as 
from time to time to fill offices in the establish- 
ments. " 

Catholics are well represented on the staff of 
all the great papers in the cities. The WeeMy 
Register says of the London press: * 'There is 
not in London a single newspaper of which some 
of the leading reporters and one or more of the 
chief persons on its staff are not Roman Catholics. " 

The Catholic Times says: ''The number of 
Catholic journalists in London is very large. 
Anti-papal Punch has its F. C. Bernard, who was 
at one time on the point of entering the priest- 
hood; and even the Standard^ which was estab- 
lished with the special intention of attacking the 
Catholic religion, now includes Catholics on its 
staff. On the Times^ Morning NeiDS and the 
Daily Chronicle Catholic pens are at work; also 
on the Saturday Revieio^ the Spectator and 
lighter weeklies, such as the World. The monthly 
magazines have many contributors of the same 
creed — in evidence of wliich we may mention 
that a glance over the forthcoming number of 



ROME AND THE PRESS. 261 

Tinsley shows us no fewer than four articles writ- 
ten bj Catholics.'' 

Boston IS equally well protected. Prof. Town- 
send, in an address in Music Hall, said: "There 
is a not a daily paper in Boston but has one or 
more Catholics upon its reportorial staff; there is 
not a paper in Boston, issuing a morning edition, 
but has one or more Roman Catholics in the edi- 
torial rooms; and the Protestant reporters on 
these papers know, if they should present facts 
for publication detrimental to the papal Church, 
no matter how true or of how much public in- 
terest, their communications would never see the 
light. Such communications go from the edi- 
torial rooms, not to the hands of the compositors, 
but into the editorial wastebasket. " 

This is confirmed by the American Citizen^ Jan- 
uary 5, 1895, which says: "All are so tied to 
Kome by financial, or political, or social obliga- 
tions that they could not — ^without unwelcome 
sacrifice — be true to American Protestant princi- 
ples." 

Nast, the celebrated artist, says in a letter, 
June 5, 1895: "I think you will find a Catholic 
spy in every newspaper office, and that he has 
more or less influence.'' 

The Catholic press is not free. It is not per- 
mitted to express an opinion that is not fully in 



262 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

accord with the principles of Rome. A Catholic 
newspaper can have no liberty of thought. This 
may be confirmed in many ways. 

^'In Joseph Keller's 'Life of FopeLeoXIIL,' " 
says Brandt, "there is an account of 'over four 
hundred members of the Catholic press, delegates 
from thirteen hundred and thirty papers, and 
representing fifteen thousand writers,' who were 
admitted to an audience with the Sovereign Pon- 
tiff, who, 'being seated on the throne, graciously 
received their address, which was replete with 
expressions of homage and implicit adherence to 
the apostolic chair.' In turn his Holiness gave 
forth expressions of great joy 'over their pledge 
of allegiance,' recommended them 'to be dignified 
in their language, to be united and faithful to the 
teachings and views of the Church,' and con- 
demned those who 'take it upon themselves to 
decide and define, on their private judgment, 
controversies which concern the condition of the 
Apostolic See. ' " (Rome or America: Christ or 
the Pope, p. 301). 

The Third Plenary Council of Baltimore says 
of editors who exercise free thought: "We de- 
clare that they themselves, and those who assist 
and encourage them in this most pernicious 
abuse, are disturbers of good order, contemners 
and enemies of the authority of the Church, and 



ROME AND THE PRESS. 263 

guilty of the gravest scandal; and, therefore, 
\vhen their guilt has been sufficiently proved, 
should be punished with canonical censures." 

Mr. Wolff stated in the Baltimore Catholic 
Congress: ''We repeat it with emphasis, Cath- 
olic newspapers, or their editors, or their writers, 
have no mission, no authority to decide, upon 
what is Roman doctrine. Their work is to de- 
clare that doctrine as they have received it from 
the Church, and to defend it against those who 
assail it, misrepresent it, and who would prevent 
and corrupt it, if they could. Obedience to 
ecclesiastical authority is the third characteristic 
laid down by the Council of Baltimore. The ob- 
ligation is imperative, and its meaning unmistak- 
able. . . . Catholics err most grievously 
when they allow themselves to be deluded into 
supposing that the subjects to which we are re- 
ferring are mere matters of opinion, and that they 
are at liberty to think, speak, write or act with 
regard to them as they please. In so imagining, 
they expose themselves to the imminent danger 
of losing their faith and the spirit of true obedi- 
ence to the authority and teaching of the Church, 
and thus, they not only imperil their own souls, 
but the souls also of all whom they influence. 
With regard to the spirit of subordina- 
tion and implicit obedience which must characterize 



264 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

every true Catholic newspaper, there is, we be- 
lieve, a steady and constant improvement." 

There are a number of instances where Cath- 
olic editors have been rebuked for expressing an 
opinion contrary to the Romisli officials. I will 
mention a few instances. 

The Catholic Uerald endorsed some of the views 
of Father McGlynn. The editor, Mr. O'Laughlin, 
was censured by Archbishop Corrigan. The arch- 
bishop said: 

"452 Madison Avenue, N. Y., April 13, 1887. 
To the Editor and Proiyrietor of the Catholic 
Herald — Gentlemen: By this note, which is en- 
tirely private and not to be published, I wish to 
call your attention to the fact that the Third 
Plenary Council of Baltimore, following the 
leadership of Pope Leo XIII., has pointed out 
the duties of the Catholic press, and denounced 
the abuses of which journals styling themselves 
'Catholic' are sometimes guilty. 'That paper 
alone,' says the Council (decree No. 288), 'is to 
be regarded as Catholic that is prepared to sub- 
mit in all things to ecclesiastical authority. ' It 
warns all Catholic writers against presuming to 
attack publicly the manner in which a bishop 
rules his diocese. 

"For some time past the utterances of the Cath- 
olic Herald have been shockingly scandalous. As 



ROME AND THE PRESS. 265 

this newspaper is published in this diocese, I 
hereby warn you that if you continue in this 
course of conduct it will be at your peril. 
I am, gentlemen, yours truly, 

M. A. CORKIGAN, 

Archbishop of New York." 

Bishop Gilmour censured the CatJiolic Knigld 
on account of a criticism it made on a musical en- 
tertainment. The editor says: "The bishop cen- 
sured us publicly in the press, and from several 
altars and pulpits, and privately, wherever he got 
a chance to introduce our name. He went so far 
as to labor with the merchants to have them re- 
fuse to trade with us. He tried to have Catholic 
publishers refuse to sell us their books; those 
whose 'ads' were in our columns were forced to 
withdraw their patronage, etc." 

The Cleveland Leader^ commenting on this, 
says: "The editor of the Catholic Knight sup- 
ported his Church with whatever ability he pos- 
sessed, and the first time he manifested the slight- 
est independence of mind, he finds her terrible 
engines of despotism turned against him. He is 
feeling the weight of the iron rod he has helped 
to strengthen. He is forced to swallow a dose of 
the medicine he has aided to administer to others.'' 

Archbishop Kain censured the editor of the 



266 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

Wester?} Watch?na?i in a letter to his priests. He 
says: "The Wester7i Watchman^ a weekly paper 
edited by the Kev. D. S. Phelan, and published in 
this city, and professing to be devoted to the in- 
terest of the Catholic Church in the West, is ad- 
judged by us a most unfit paper to be introduced 
into our Catholic families. We regard it as sub- 
versive of ecclesiastical discipline, and even dan- 
gerous to the faith of the Catholic people; and, 
therefore, we feel bound to warn them against its 
baneful influence and to entreat them not to give 
it their support or encouragement. Inasmuch as 
the reverend editor' pays no heed to our admo- 
nitions, nay, even defiantly denies our authority in 
the premises, we deem it our solemn duty, as the 
guardian of the Church's interests, to thus pub- 
licly warn the faithful under our pastoral charge, 
against a newspaper which falsely claims to be an 
exponent of Catholic thought. You are ordered 
to read this letter at all the masses in your Church 
on the first Sunday after its reception. Yours 
very truly in Christ, John J. Kain, 

Archbishop Coadjutor and Administrator, 
St. Louis, Mo., March 15, 1894.'' 

Owen Smith, editor of the Catholic Telegraphy 
wrote some articles. In one of them he said: 
"Almost ail of the priests of the diocese are look- 



ROME AND THE PRESS. 267 

ing for big parishes. There is no concealing the 
fact, there seems to be a j^^^^^^ct mania among^ 
them.'' 

Archbishop Elder demanded of the editor a re- 
traction. He said: "1 call on you to publish in 
the Catholic TelegTa2}h of this coming week, in 
the usual place and type of editorial matter, a 
declaration of your regrets for each of the three 
articles mentioned above; your retraction of all 
injurious assertions contained in them, and your 
express promise that hereafter you will not allow 
anything to appear in the paper which may con- 
travene, neither the admonition of the Sovereign 
Pontiff, nor the prohibition of the Council of 
Baltimore. It will be necessary to let me see 
the declaration and promise before it is published, 
that I may be satisfied of its sufficiency. In case 
you should not think proper to comply with this 
requirement, it will become my duty to take what 
other measures may be needed to abate the scan- 
dal. Yery respectfully. 

Your Servant in Christ, 
William Henry Elder, 
Archbishop of Cincinnati. 



J? 



As a result Mr. Owen retracted in these words: 
'*I cheerfully subscribe my name to the follow- 
ing disavowal, so kindly dictated by his Grace: 



268 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

'As publisher of the Catholic Telegraphy I hereby 
€orQply with the requirements of the above letter. 
1 regret the appearance of the articles referred to. 
I retract (or if you choose, disavow) all of the in- 
jurious assertions and inferences contained in 
them, and I make the required promise, which I 
will keep loyally and honorably as long as I am 
connected with the paper. Owen Smith. 



5 55 



With such a repressing influence the ignorance 
of Koman Catholics is not a matter of wonder. 
In speaking of the support of Catholic newspa- 
pers, Bishop Cosgrove, of Iowa, confessed: "We 
find about one Catholic in forty is a subscriber to 
one of them. We find the combined circulation 
of all the Catholic papers of the country to be less 
than that of a single issue of the Police Gazette. 
We find it less by thousands than the journal pub- 
lished by another single establishment, the Meth- 
odist Book Concern." (The Christian Advocate). 
•'Protestant exchanges charge that our people are 
ignorant, that they lack intelligence, etc., and 
Tisually they have the best of the argument, for 
the facts are very stern and hard to face." 

Rome's policy is to put a limit to human 
thought. She forbids a man to read Milton, 
Dante and the most of the great writers. She 
<3ondemns the reading of tlie great magazines. 



ROME AND THE PRESS. 269 

The New York Catholic Mevieic^ November 2, 
1889, condemns Scribner'^s Monthly. It says: 
"Catholics must notice with regret the occasion- 
ally unfortunate remarks and reflections on the 
faith that are creeping into Scribner's fine maga- 
zine. We look, of course, for partial blunders 
now and then. Protestant and agnostic editors 
can not avoid them absolutely; and we allow for 
the spirit which has been abroad in the world for 
nearly four centuries, and which will show itself, 
even when precautions are taken. But we must 
protest against such views as are expressed." 

There is no step that Rome will not take. 
Yictor Hugo rightly said: "Ah, we know you. 
We know the clerical party. It is an old party. 
This is that which has found for the truth those 
two marvelous supporters — ignorance and error. 
Every step which the intelligence of Europe has 
taken has been in spite of it. Its history is writ- 
ten in the history of human progress; but it is 
written on the back of the leaf. It is opposed to 
it all. This is that which caused Prinelli to be 
scourged for having said the stars would not fall. 
This it is which put Campanella seven times to 
the torture for saying that the number of worlos 
was infinite and for liaving caught a glimpse at 
the secret of creation. This it is which persecuted 
Harvey for having proved the circulation of the 



270 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

blood. In tlie name of Jesus it shut up Galileo. In 
the name of St. Paul it imprisoned Christopher 
Columbus. To discover a law of the heav^ens 
was an impietj, to find a world was a heresy. 
This it is which anathematized Pascal in the name 
of religion; Montaigne in the name of morality; 
Moliere in the name of both morality and religion. 
Por a long time, already, you have tried to put a 
gag upon the human intellect; you wish to be the 
master of education, and there is not a poet, not 
an author, not a thinker, not a philosopher^ that 
you accept. All that has been written, found, 
dreamed, deduced, inspired, imagined, invented 
by genius, the treasure of civilization, the vener- 
able inheritance of generations, the common 
patrimony of knowledge, you reject." 



ROME AND SECRET SOCIETIES. 271 



. CHAPTER IX. 

THE ATTITUDE OP ROME TOWARD SECRET SO- 
CIETIES. 

THE Roman Catholic Church is the most power- 
ful secret society in the world. She ad- 
ministers to her cardinals, bishops, priests and 
people the most terrible oaths. But in this, as in 
all other things, she proposes to remain mistress 
of the world, so she opposes all other secret so- 
cieties. Her main opposition is manifested 
against the Free Masons,. Odd Fellows, Knights 
of Pythias and Sons of Temperance. 

It was in 1T38 that Clement XII. published 
the bull '''-In Eminenti.^^ In this bull he sol- 
emnly excommunicated the Free Masons. 

We have an account of M. Tournan, who was a 
Mason. In 1757 he was before the Inquisition 
in Madrid on the charge of being a Free Mason, 
and the following is a part of his examination: 
''Q. You are, then, a Free Mason? A. Yes. Q. 
How long have you been so? A. Twenty years. 
Q. Have you attended the assemblies of Free 
Masons? A. Yes; in Paris. Q. Have you at- 
tended them in Spain? A. No; I do not know 



272 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

that there are any lodges in Spain. Q. Are you 
a Christian, a Roman Catholic? A. Yes; I was 
baptized in the parish of St. Paul at Paris. Q. 
How, as a Christian, dare you attend Masonic 
assemblies, knowing them to be contrary to reli- 
gion? A. I did not know that; I never saw or 
heard there anything contrary to religion. Q. 
The Free Masons are an anti-religious body? A. 
Their object is not to combat or deny the neces- 
sity or utility of any religion, but for the exercise 
of charity towards the unfortunate of any sect, 
particularly if he is a member of the society. Q. 
What passes in these lodges which it might be in- 
convenient to publish? A. Nothing, if it is 
viewed without prejudice. Q. Is it true that the 
festival of St. John is celebrated in the lodges, 
and, if so, what worship is given in such cele- 
bration? A. His festival is celebrated by a re- 
past, after which there is a discourse exhorting 
the brethren to beneficence to their fellow crea- 
tures in honor of God. There is no worship 
given to St. John. Q. Is it true that the sun, 
moon and stars are honored in the lodges? A. 
No." (Lorente's Hist. Inquisition, p. 191). 

Although he confessed "his great wrong," he 
was heavily fined, imprisoned a year and then 
banished from Spain. 

The Mission-Book, which is very popular 



ROME AND SECRET SOCIETIES. 273 

among Catholics in this country, under the ex- 
amination preparatory to the confessional, under 
the ten commandments, asks: "Have you ex- 
posed your faith to danger by evil associations? 
Have you united yourself to the Free Masons, or 
Odd Fellows, or any similar society forbidden by 
the Church?" (Mission-Book, p. 412). 

More recently the Knights of Pythias have 
been condemned. I subscribe a letter from the 
Archbishop of Boston: 

"Archbishopric of Boston, December 26,1894. 
Rev, Dear Sir: — We learn by letters fromEome, 
forwarded by his excellency, the apostolic dele- 
gate at Washington, that our holy father has 
forbidden all Catholics to join the societies of 
Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias or Sons of 
Temperance. As to those who have already 
joined any of these societies, they are to be ad- 
monished to withdraw from them, and if they 
refuse to do so they are to be denied the sacra- 
ments. Yours very sincerely, 

John J. Williams, 

Archbishop of Boston." 

Since then an encyclical has been issued by 
Pope Leo XIII. confirming this letter and con- 
demning the Knights of Pythias. As we are 

going to press the letter has been ordered "pro- 
18 



274 AMERICA OR ROME, WHICH? 

mulgated," and all Knights of Pythias are de- 
clared heretics, and, if Catholics, excommunicated. 
Such is the intolerance and bigotry of Rome. 
Header, will you answer which shall it be 

AMERICA OR ROME? 



INDEX. 



275 



INDEX OF AUTHORS AND SUBJECTS. 



Page 

Adultery 44 

Agrippina 157 

Alg-ona 50 

Alphonsus 165 

Alzog 17 

Ambrose, St 173, 181 

American Citizen 261 

American The 87 

Amicus 48 

Aphoris, St 44 

Apocrypha 183 

Aquensis, Matthew. . . . 156 
Aquinas, St. Thomas, 

45, 79, 117 

Athanasius 179 

Augustine 19, 181 

Austria 32, 109, 174 

Bagby, W. B 27 

Balmes, J 198 

Baltimore, Council of, 
32, 206, 214, 220, 221, 
258,262. Pastoral let- 
ter of, 32. Profession 

of Faith 77 

Banner, The Catholic. . 207 

Baronius 17, 145, 147 

Bauny 40 

Bavaria 32 

Belgium 32 

Bellarmine, Cardinal. 8, 

18, 27, 132, 144 

Bembo, Cardinal 146 

Benedict VIII., 23; Ben- 
edict XI., 23: Bene- 
dict XIV 256 

Bernard, St 146 

Bible, The 176 

Bishop's Oath 93 



JPage 

Bismarck 63 

Blaine, James G 224 

Boniface VIII.. 72 

Boston Citizen 259 

Brandt, John L. . . .208, 262 
Brazil, Romanism in, 

27 152 

Bridget, St '. 159 

Brownson. . . .36, 69, 82, 

118, 132, 227, 229 

Bussambaum 47 

Butler, Charles 148 

Butler Riban 17 

Cajetan, Cardinal ..... 144 

Campeggio, Cardinal . . 156 

Canon Law.. 70, 77, 139, 252 

Capitol at "Washington, 185 

Cardinal's Oath 95 

Cardenas 44 

Carpi 163 

Carranza 196, 243 

Castelar 63 

Catechism, the Little. . 183 
Catholic Church, Mem- 
bership 26 

Catholic Truth Society, 256 

Causanus, Nicolas 159 

Celibacy 140 

Charli 41 

Chiniquy 150 

Church, Expositor of 

the Bible 186 

Cities, worst governed . 36 

Civil Liberty 60 

Clan-na-Gael, Oath of. . 101 

Clark, J. A 190 

Clemangis, Nicolas. . . . 159 



276 



INDEX. 



Page 

Clement, 20, 141, 178; 
Clement v., 145; Clem- 
ent VIIL, 189, 256; 
Clement XT., 195; 
Clement XXL, 271: 

Clement XIII 253 

Cleveland, Grover.. 90, 223 

Coena, Domini, Bull.. . 115 

Colorado Catholic 217 

Confessional 56 

Constance, Council of . . 79 
Constitution of United 

States > . 69 

Cormenin 146 

Corrigan, Archbishop. 264 

Cosgrove, Bishop 268 

Costerus 155 

Courier- Journal 54, 161 

Cyprian 179 

Cyril of Jerusalem 180 

Dens 57, 79, 171 

Deserters 87 

Dicastillo 50 

Divorce Laws 164 

Douay Bible 204 

Doyle, Bishop 58 

DuPin 19, 116 

Elder, Archbishop 267 

Ely, Synod of 194 

Emmanuel, Victor 128 

English, Bishop 77 

Escobar 41,43, 50 

Espencseus 156, 160 

Eusebius 20, 142, 182 

False Swearing 40 

Eegeli, F. X 44, 50 

Feijo, A. A 152 

Fenelon 206 

Fergundez 48 

Fidelis, Father 121 

Filiucius 40, 41 

Fleury 149 

Foley, M. F 31 

France 32 

Freedom of Worship . . 106 



Page 

Freeman'' s Journal . ..82, 

217, 229 
Freund, Der Wahrheist. 206 

Galileo 256 

Gambling 37 

Gams 17 

Garfield, President.... 222 

Garcia 58 

Gavazzi , 137 

Gibbons, Cardinal. .26, 

51, 90, 186, 216, 219 

Gilmour, Bishop 69, 264 

Gladstone 45, 61, 62 

Globe,The 82 

Gobatus 50 

Gordonus 44 

Grant, President . . .64, 225 

Greeley, Horace 213 

Gregory, the Great, 20, 
l!43; Gregory VII., 
126, 143; Gregory 
XVI., 107, 202, 230, 

252-256 
Guimenius 49 

Harper'' s Magazine 163 

Harris, Gen. T. M 259 

Hastings, H. L 28 

Hecker, Father 82, 108 

Henriquez 48 

Henry, Canon Worms, 

165; Henry IV., 47; 

Henry Vltl 165 

Herald, The Catholic. . . 264 
Hershey, Dr. Scott F. . 83 
Hist. Catholic Church, 119 

Hogan, Bishop 52, 150 

Honnorius of Athens. . 146 

Hossius 155 

Howard, Lord Edward, 31 
Hughes, Archbishop. . 88 

Hughes, Bishop 216 

Hugo, Victor 239, 269 

Huss, John 79 

Illegitimacy 174 

Illiteracy 229 



INDEX. 



. 277 



Page 

Indulgences 158 

Innocent III., 124, 132; 
Innocent IV., 125; In- 
nocent X ."*.... 156 

Inquisition 132 

Irenceus 20, 178 

Ireland, Archbishop. . . 36 
Ireland, Criminal Rec- 
ord of 28, 30 

Italy 231 

Jahn, Dr 188 

Jefferson, Thomas 61 

Jerome 20, 181, 183 

Jerusalem, Council of. . 11 

Jesuits 66; oath of, 97 

John XIL, 22, 145; John 
XIX., 23; John 

XXII 146, 160 

Joly Cratineau 47 

Kain, Bishop 265 

Katzer, Archbishop. . . 72 

Keating', Bishop 58 

Keenan, Stephen 121 

Knight, The Catholic. . . 265 
Knights of St. John, 

Oath of 103 

Kinsilla, Bishop 58 

Xta Croix 48 

I-.adilas 165 

Lafayette 61 

Lansing, I.J 86 

Lassarre, Henry 205 

Lateran, Council of. 46, 

80, 110, 242, 248, 253 

Layman' 40 

Leo X., 146, 160, 194, 
242, 248, 253, 256; Leo 
Xil., 202; Leo XIII., 
73-75, 81, 90, 205, 219, 

226, 254, 262, 264 
iiguori.42, 43, 45, 56,57, 78 

Limborch 135 

Lincoln, Abraham. .64, 

■ 88, 89 
Xilorente 134, 262 



JPage 

Lotteries 37 

Loyola, Ignatius.. .105, 230 
Luther 39, 243 

Magna Charta 124 

Manning, Arch. .69, 77, 132 

Markoe 71 

Marriage 140 

Massacre of St. Bar- 
tholomew 139 

Maximillian, Emperor, 127 

McCarthy, Father 216 

McCloskey, Cardinal. . 216 

McGlynn, Father... 37, 264 

McGuire 206 

McQuaid, Bishop 227 

Menard 71 

Mercury, The . . 52 

Mexico... 109, 149, 167, 190 

Milner 229 

Milton, John 63 

Mirror, The Catholic. . . 31 
Mission-Book.. 141, 170, 

172, 173, 184, 187, 273 

Mohler 17 

Molina , 42, 49 

Money, Public, for Sec- 
tarian Schools 222 

Montagu, Lord 108, 255 

Morals,26;inLiverpool, 30 

Morgan, Gen. T. J . . . . 223 

Munsey^s Magazine 72 

Murder 45 

Murray, Bishop. . . 58 

Mus, Cornelius 146 

Naples 32 

Nast 261 

New Grenada 109 

Newman, Cardinal . . 19, 216 
Nunneries. 153 

Oaths, not Binding, 76; 

of Priesthood 91 

O'Connor, Bishop 107 

Oregon, Council of 214 

Origen 179 



278 



INDEX. 



Page 

Pagi 17 

Palao, Castro 41 

Papal States 32 

Paris, Matthew 146 

Parochial Schools 228 

Paul III 149 

Pelagius, Alvarez 146 

Peter, never a pope, 7: 
married, 13, 141; chil- 
dren of, 14; never in 
Rome, 14; never trans- 
ferred authority 118 

Phelan, Father 215 

Pius IV., 116, 195, 243, 
252; Pius v., 138; Pius 
VI., 256; Pius VII., 
198, 201; Pius IX., 18, 
45, 73, 86, 106, 118, 
123, 127, 128, 175,186, 

204, 126, 254, 256 

Poland 198 

Politics 80 

Popes, Vile 21 

Post, N. Y. Emning 37 

Press, The 242 

Preston, Vicar General, 73 
Priesthood, immoral, 

51; remiss in duty. . . 54 
Prisons and convicts . . 29 

Quesnel 1 95 

BamUer.TYie 47, 106 

Recci 155 

Reeve, Father 148 

Begister, The Weekly . 31 , 260 

Religious Liberty 105 

Bepublic,The St. Louis. . 52 

RerumP 158 

Beview, The Catholic. 'S4, 227 
Rewards for killing 

heretics 139 

Ribbon Man, oath of. . 103 

Rome aggressive 9 

Rome, early pastors of, 19 

Ryan, Archbishop 107 

Sa, Emmanuel 44 



Page- 

Saloon-keepers 33 

Sanchez 41, 78 

Satolli 72, 74, 218, 219 

Saurez 42, 47 

Schools, Public 213 

Schouppe, P. X 77 

Scriptures Prohibited . 191 

Secret Societies 271 

Segher, Archbishop. . . 214 

Seymour, W. M 190 

Shanley, Bishop 39 

Shepherd of the Valley. . . 123 
Sherman, Col. Edwin . . 85 

Shulte 70 

Sicily 32 

Sixtus IV 157 

Sixtus V 125, 189, 195 

Socrates 143 

Spain 109 

Spottswood, Bishop. .. . 188 

Siaats Zeitung 153 

Standard, The Catholic, 33 

Stanley, Dean 19 

State must be subject 

to Rome 124 

Stealing 43- 

Steitz, G. E 66- 

Stowe, C. E 211 

Strong, Dr. Sydney 234 

Sylvius. Eneas 146 

Sylvester III 24 

Taberna 41. 

Tablet,T]ie 33,123, 217 

Tarragona, Synod of. . . 191 
Telegraph, The Catholic, 

218, 266. 

Temperance 33' 

Tertullian 20, 142, 178' 

Thaunus 144, 157 

Theodoret 182 

Thompson,Hon. R. W., 218 

Times, The Catholic. . . . 260' 

Tischendorf 211 

Toulouse, Council of. . 

132, 191 

Townsend, L. T....152, 261 

Tradition = . . . 183. 



INDEX. 



279 



P(ige 

Traitors 85 

Tregelles 212 

Trent, Council of. .140, 
145, 146, 149, 163, 166, 
167, 171, 172, 184, 187- 
189, 195, 243; cate- 
chism of 115 

Trullan Synod 51 

Tuscany 32 

Tyndale 193 

Unara Sanctam 72 

United American, The. 67 

Universe, The 30, 31 

Urban II., 51; Urban 

XIII 256 

Valdes, F 134 

Vandeveld, Bishop 53 



I'age 

Vatican Manuscript. . . 211 

Venill6t, M. Louis 119 

Verg-il, Polydore 144 

Voltaire 133 

Vulgate 188 

Walker, Father 214 

Warham, Arch 192, 194 

Washing-ton 61 

Watchman, The 124, 265 

Webster 61 

Wheelrig-ht, Isaac 204 

Wickliffe, John 192 

Williams, Archbishop. 273 

Wine a nd Spirit Gazette, 33 

Wolff 263 

World, The Catholic. 10, 

82, 226 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: Jan: 2006 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 1606B 
(724)779-2111 



(O '^ ^ / u . 



